Finding His Reason
by WhisperingWolf
Summary: He grabbed her hand in his, a smile on his face as he told her to run, living mannequins chasing after them. Her life changed in that moment and so did his. Neither one ever imagined what would come next. Note: This story follows along with most of the episodes, but shows the bits in between. There are chapters with and without episode titles. No copyright infringement intended.
1. Prologue - Rose

Prologue - Rose

It had been a year of unending routine, a year that had started out with a strange exchange of words with a strange man on New Year's morning. He had told her that she was going to have a really great year, but she had brushed it off at the time. He had stayed in the shadows, she couldn't even remember having seen his face, but he had sounded sincere at the time. She remembered his words now if only because one single moment and one chance meeting had changed everything. She looked down at her left hand for a moment and brushed the fingertips of her right hand over her palm. Nothing had changed, her skin didn't look any different, but still she could feel the tingling of his hand gripping hers.

That first instant, it was the very first moment when she had known that everything was changing, but in a beautiful and exciting way. He was a strange man with bright blue eyes and a black leather jacket. He talked in an odd way with a baritone voice that sounded like cream over chocolates to her, maybe something darker perhaps and she laughed to herself as she thought of coffee. If she added that in he became a mocha latte. Rolling her eyes at her own thoughts, she turned her head and looked back at him over her shoulder.

He was just standing there by the console, his blue eyes watching her as she moved around. He was patient with her as she looked about, letting her get her fill of his time machine, this strange spacecraft that was more than a hundred times bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. He was alien, but that didn't matter to her. In truth, it thrilled her. He was different and new and he made her feel…alive. More alive than she'd felt in ages. She hadn't thought once about chasing after him and she didn't regret it one bit.

"You have questions," he stated from behind her and she turned to face him, her brow arched in curiosity. "You're always talkin' always saying something," he told her as he watched her impassively. "But now you're quiet."

"I'm just taking it all in," she told him and turned back to the wall she'd been looking at.

Her thoughts drifted back to the morning after the explosion, the morning after she had met him. He had been outside her door and she had found him looking in the cat flap. Her mother had thought she had been subdued because of the shock of seeing her place of work blow up the night before, but the truth was vastly different. She had been thinking about him and the very real thought that she may never see him again and then there he was.

She could still smell the leather of his jacket, feel it against her hands when she had pulled him into their flat and pushed him down the hall. There had barely been enough room for them to rotate around each other and she had been close enough to smell him. There was something about him, like fire and stars and summer storms. He was exciting and thrilling and dangerous, but he had made her feel safe. They had been running for their lives when she first met him, but still he had made her feel safe.

Tipping her head back as she followed the line of twisting coral up from the floor to the high ceiling, she frowned in confusion when she noticed that there was another floor above her. If this wasn't the only level, how high did this ship go? She turned her head back down, frowning as she remembered sitting with the then plastic Mickey in the pizza shop. She was able to say his name now – Jimmy Stone's – without feeling the deep levels of fear and self-hatred that had once plagued her. Well, scrap that, she was able to say his name as long as she didn't think about him. If for one second she forgot the trick she'd taught herself, forgot to think of only the name like a button on a wall and not the person that went with it…

The Doctor frowned as he studied Rose. From the moment she had agreed to fly with him and ran on board the TARDIS she had been excited and full of smiles, but now she wasn't. For just a moment she had fallen, the excitement he could feel from her disappearing into something that looked strangely like despair. Was she regretting her choice to go with him? They hadn't left yet; she could always change her mind and go back. Is that what she wanted?

"We've not really left yet," he told her as he watched her study the wall. "We're just sort of hovering above the Earth." She turned to look at him with a confused frown. "If you wanted to go back," he offered and watched her give him a slight grin as she arched her brow.

"Did you want me to go then?" she asked him. "If you want to just swan off on your own…"

"Didn't say that," he interrupted her. "So you don't want to go back then?"

"Not on your life," she told him, offering him a wide smile and watching with delight as he returned it with equal brilliance.

"What do you want to do then?" he asked her and watched her look around the TARDIS.

"We're hovering above the Earth?" she asked him and watched him nod. "How far?"

"A fair bit," he told her and watched as her eyes seemed to sparkle, the light and excitement returning to her face.

"Can I see it?" she asked him and watched as his eyes widened. "On the monitor thing then?" she asked when he began pressing buttons.

"Oh Rose, I can give you so much more than that," he told her as he came around the console and held out his hand to her. "Do you trust me?"

"Yeah," she nodded with confused frown even as she smiled. "Yeah, I really do."

She did trust him, but she couldn't say why she did. He had saved her life as equally as she had saved his, but there was something more to it than that. It was something more powerful, something deeper as though she'd been waiting for him. Her mum would think that she had truly gone mad if she ever said anything like that out loud. A strange man with dark hair and blue eyes who wears a leather coat; oh she knew exactly what her mother would say to that. She was too distracted by her own thoughts to see The Doctor's frown of concern, following him as he pulled her along behind him.

It happened again, just then. She had been happy and excited and fairly glowing with energy one moment and the next she was subdued and quiet and lost in her own little world. What was she thinking? What was it that took away her happiness so easily, so completely? He was about to ask about her thoughts when she looked up to notice him watching her. She smiled then, squeezing his hand as she did so, but he could tell that it had been forced. Well at least it had for the first moment or so, after that the excitement returned and she seemed to remember where she was.

"Close your eyes, Rose Tyler," The Doctor said as he pulled her closer to him by their joined hands.

Part of her wanted to question him, another part wanted to say no, but she quieted them both and did as he asked. Jimmy had made her hate being surprised; Mickey had never been able to keep a secret long enough for it to be a secret and her Mum? Jackie Tyler had never been gifted with keeping quiet about anything. But this strange man, this alien, this…Doctor he had surprised her at every turn, eyes open or closed and she had loved it. She found that she didn't have to want to be surprised by him because he was always surprising her, with his wit or his knowledge and it made her feel invigorated. He gave her a purpose, even just in those few short hours that she had been with him, running and fighting alongside him, he had made her life mean something.

"Alright, just sit down now," The Doctor guided her with his voice and she held onto his hand as she gingerly lowered herself to the floor.

There was a ledge that she could feel and she bit her lip as she bent over to see if it would be safe to hang her legs over it, but felt his large hands grip her waist to hold her still. He told her it was safe and she trusted him. He had protected her all this time and even if he'd made fun of her or called the human race a bunch of stupid apes, she still knew that he would never let her fall. She felt his legs frame her hips as he sat behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist and found that she didn't feel nervous at all with his closeness. In some ways it felt as though he had always been there even if they'd only just met.

"Open your eyes, Rose," he commanded gently, his mouth next to her ear.

Dark black lashes, inked thick with mascara, fluttered open slowly to reveal milk chocolate eyes. Full lips colored in rose-petal pink parted slowly as she stared in wonder and disbelief. She didn't dare look down to confirm what she already knew, she was sitting on the edge of the TARDIS, her legs hanging outside the open door. In front of her was the wide expanse of space and it looked so much different than the night sky when she had looked up from the Earth. The Earth…

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the planet she called home. She could see the continents, the blue of the waters and the white of the clouds. It moved below her, the atmosphere shifting and swirling as the clouds moved and grew thick. Her brows furrowed as she leaned closer as though she would be able to see it better and felt The Doctor tighten his arms around her to keep her safe. She turned her head back to look at him as she lifted her hand to point at what she was looking at and felt him chuckle behind her even as his humor remained silent.

"There's a storm brewin' over Edinburgh," he told her with that tone that said he knew more than everyone else, but she didn't mind it. His arrogance was well deserved and in some ways endearing. "You can't see it from here, but they're getting a fair bit of rain right now."

"And that's Mars," she said with wonder nodding at the red planet she could see in the distance. "They're not just dots up here. Blimey, no wonder you don't keep your feet on the ground."

The Doctor took his sonic screwdriver from his coat pocket, changing a few settings before pressing a button and pointing it over his shoulder at the TARDIS. Rose gasped when the TARDIS moved, spinning around to face the opposite direction, her hands gripping his knees tightly as she feared being tossed from her seat. Slipping the sonic back into his inner coat pocket, he chuckled and wrapped his arm around her once more. He felt her intake of breath, her ribs expanding, but she held it, the air never passing back through and he tipped his head to look at her.

"Are you crying?" he asked her with confusion.

"No," she said with a sniffle and caught her tears with her fingertips before they could ruin her mascara. "Maybe," she allowed. "It's…beautiful."

He spoke to her softly as he lifted his hand out in front of them both, pointing to each one as he named the planets and their moons. There was an asteroid belt to their left and he pointed to it, telling her its name and history. She thought they'd be at the wrong angle to see the big dipper, but suddenly the TARDIS moved again and she didn't understand why they weren't thrown back into the ship considering that she knew they had to be tipped up on its side.

"Gravity field," he told her when she squeezed his knees in a desperate grip. "You won't fall. The TARDIS keeps the gravity however it's needed. Right now it's keeping us here, sitting and staring up at the stars."

She leaned back against him, relaxing slowly as she let herself believe that she was safe in his care. Her hands remained on his knees, simply resting there and sliding up to the tops of his thighs as she relaxed her arms. He didn't say anything, strangely didn't find her touch alarming or uncomfortable. They sat in a companionable silence for a while, and he listened to her heartbeat as they watched the planets move around their orbits. He lifted his hand, taking hers and curling his fingers around hers in a loose fist as he lifted them together and pointed at the stars that formed the constellations humans were so used to seeing.

He named the stars for her, told her the myths of each one and met her with a smile when she asked if any of them held alien life. He laughed when she asked if Neptune had water life forms or Jupiter gaseous ones. Shaking his head as he told her that the closest habitable planets was more than a few hundred light years away. He denied her belief that it would be too far away to visit, reminding her that they were in a time machine, a ship that traveled between the dimensions of space and reality. Distance and time, those things meant nothing to the TARDIS.

She could go anywhere with him, see different worlds, different places, different people. She wasn't scared to be with him, she wasn't afraid to run away and go anywhere with him. She was excited and ready for the adventure. She shivered just a bit and felt him move behind her, his arms going around hers and folding over her chest as he tried to keep her warm. She frowned as she turned back and looked at him with a question in her eyes.

"Ask it," he told her, his mouth tipped up in a lopsided grin.

"You're not…warm," she said and watched him tip his head as he gave her a goofy grin.

"Not as such. Not as you lot are used to," he answered her and saw that she was still waiting for an explanation. "My body temperature is roughly thirty degrees below yours. More than that actually. Normal body temperature for me is sixty degrees."

"Sixty?" Rose said with wide eyes. "Best not pass out drunk anywhere; they'll think you're dead!"

The Doctor laughed as he lifted his brows and nodded, the expression one that she was growing used to. It was his way of agreeing with her and also his way of saying that something was fantastic without actually saying the word. She stared at him with wonder as she tried to sort out her own thoughts and understand what couldn't be explained. She'd always had trouble reading people, but somehow this alien Doctor and all of his expressions and silent communication were familiar to her. How did she understand him so well when she'd never understood anyone else so easily? Who was this man and why did it feel like she belonged with him?


	2. Chapter 1 - The End of the Earth

Chapter One

End of the World

She had yelled at him. For some reason that was all she could think about as she watched him move around the console room flipping switches and turning the dials. She had yelled at him for taking her to the end of the Earth, for showing her a life beyond what she had ever thought existed and she had blamed him because she hadn't thought to say no. It wasn't his fault. It had been her choice to go and even after nearly dying she still didn't regret it, but she was scared. She was scared of him, but even more scared of herself. He had excited her and thrilled her and made her feel alive and she had just gone with him. She had left Mickey and her mother behind and gone with him.

This was different, she told herself as she fought against memories that she never wanted to hold onto, a time in her life that she wanted nothing more than to forget. He had a leather jacket yes, but it was a nice leather jacket if not a bit worn. It was a clean leather jacket, a style that made him look elegant and strong at the same time. It wasn't like his – like Jimmy's – there were no frills or cheap decorations to make it look rougher and biker chic. He wasn't anything like Jimmy, and despite what she had seen him do with Cassandra, the Doctor made her feel safe. He had shown her something frightening and amazing and she had yelled at him.

_Rose_

The sound of his voice calling her name echoed in her mind and she was pulled back to the moment that she had banged on the door with all her might just to get out. He had called out to her and though she hadn't been able to see him or get to him she had known that he wouldn't leave her to die in that room. He fought for her, fought for everyone on board just so that they could live and she had yelled at him. She could hear it again, his voice speaking her name and frowned deeply, feeling horrible for the way that she had treated him and even if they had made up short moments later, the memory of it still weighed down on her. Lips pursing in confusion as she became aware of a cool touch against her cheek, she blinked quickly and felt her dry eyes sting as they watered.

"Rose," The Doctor spoke her name again as he remained in front of her, cupping her cheek in his palm.

She blinked again, gasping and jumping back against the seat when she found his face so close to hers and grimaced at the pain radiating across her lower back from the movement. His thumb brushed over the curve of her cheekbone as he listened to her racing heart and waited quietly for her to calm. His blue eyes watched her closely; worry tugging at his mind as he studied her. He had begun talking to her moments after taking the TARDIS into the time rift and turned to face her when she hadn't responded. When he had found her staring at the console with her eyes unfocused he had gone to her immediately.

"There you are," The Doctor said as he met her gaze. "You hurt?" he asked and watched her frown in confusion.

"Wha'?" Rose asked, the word barely audible as she looked at him.

"So stupid, you were in that room and I never even asked if you got burned," he said as he watched her, blaming himself for her near death.

"Burned?" Rose asked, her mind picking up only pieces of what he was saying as she listened to his voice, but unable to make sense of it overall.

"Rose?" The Doctor felt his concern increase, his twin hearts beating a rapid staccato in his chest as he brought his other hand up to frame her face between his palms. "Look at me."

"I yelled at you," Rose said, her words spoken softly and he realized then that she wasn't truly paying attention to anything.

"Lucky for you 'Doctor's more than just a name," he said as he moved and slid his arms around her back and behind her knees. "Got a full medical bay an' everything."

Lifting her from the jump seat, he carried her through the console room and down the hall deeper into the TARDIS. He continued talking to her, unsure of whether it was because of his own concern or his need to keep her anchored, but he kept on. It didn't take him long to reach the medical bay, the TARDIS having moved the room closer for him and he watched as the ship followed his unspoken command and opened the door for him. Stepping inside, he set her down on the bed and reached for his sonic screwdriver. Adjusting the settings for a medical scan, he pressed the button and ran it over her slowly, making one sweep and then another before bringing it up for him to read.

"You've got a bit of a burn on your back," he told her. "Nothing too bad, just a contact burn. Don't worry though; I'll get it taken care of for you right quick."

"Doctor?" Rose spoke softly with confusion, watching as he took her hands and pulled her slowly up until she was sitting properly. "Where are we?"

"In the Time Rift for now," he told her as he moved to the counter to her right and opened one of the white drawers.

"This is a Time Rift?" she asked as she looked around the room. "Is that what you lot call it?"

"What?" The Doctor turned back to her with a deep frown, his blue eyes staring at her as though she'd gone mad before his eyes widened in understanding. "No, we're still on the TARDIS. This is the medical bay."

"Medical?" she asked as he returned to her side and she grabbed her shirt as he began to lift it. "Oi! What's the big idea?"

"I am actually a doctor, you know," he told her with a touch of annoyance and tugged her shirt up again. "You've got a bit of a burn on your back. Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" he asked as he pressed a button and ran the laser of a dermal regenerator over her reddened skin.

"I…I don't know," Rose said and frowned as he lowered her shirt back into place. "Guess with everything else, I didn't really feel it."

"Adrenaline and endorphins," he told her as he pulled a rolling chair closer and sat down. "You got lost on me," he said, his lips bending down in a worried frown as his brows drew together.

"I was just thinking," she told him, breaking eye contact and shaking her head a bit as she looked down.

"I know you must have been scared, Rose, but I won't let anything hurt you." She was going to leave him, if her continuing silence was anything to go by.

"I got scared," she said and shook her head.

She hadn't meant to say that, hadn't meant to tell him. She wasn't scared of him, truly she wasn't, but there were parallels between her past and this…present? Future? She wasn't even certain she knew how to describe it. She turned her eyes back to him when he remained quiet and bit the edge of her lip as she reached out her hand to touch his face. His blue eyes met hers and though she never said the words, he understood that she wasn't afraid of him. It would be so easy, he thought, he could touch his hands to her face. He could just press his fingertips to her temples and step into her mind, but with the reaction she'd had to the TARDIS' telepathic field translating alien languages for her he didn't dare.

"Hold on," Rose said and looked around in confusion. "Did you say we're in a Time Rift?"

"The Time Rift, actually," he told her with a wide grin. "There's only one. The TARDIS just needs to power up a little and then we can go home. Your mum won't even have time to notice you've been gone."

"What's it look like?" she asked and watched his eyes widen as though he were about to share something truly amazing with her.

"Do you want to see?" The Doctor asked and hopped up from his chair. "Come on, Rose Tyler," he said and held out his hand for her to take. "Come take a look at the Time Rift."

She laughed a bit when he tugged her off of the stark white bed and led her into a long hallway. Their hands remained joined as he led her back through the console room and down the ramp to the door of the TARDIS. Cautioning her to stay close to him, he opened the door and looked over his shoulder at her when she stumbled back away from him. She had expected the air to rush out, for them both to be sucked into space, but instead all she felt was warmth.

"I extended the oxygen barrier around the TARDIS," he told her with a cheeky grin and tugged her closer. "You can breathe easily and are safe to look out, just let me know if you want to go outside so I can hold on to you. Don't want you floating off."

"That's the Time Rift?" Rose nodded to the world outside the open doors as she stared in wide-eyed wonder.

"Yes," he nodded once and watched her as she stepped closer.

Her lips moved, but no sound came from her as she stepped up to The Doctor's side and then around him to stand in front. She felt his hands on her waist, holding her in place where she stood on the edge of the open door and The Doctor felt the hum from the TARDIS in his mind as he looked out upon the Rift. His ship was happy, his beautiful ship that had barely given him any indication that she even noticed his other companions was happy and he could only think that it was because of Rose. She nudged against his mind again without speaking, the feel of the emotions she projected both approving and pleased and he knew then that he was correct.

"It's so beautiful," Rose whispered as she tipped her head back to glance up at The Doctor before returning her attention the Rift. "It's like I can feel it, like I could reach out and touch it," she said softly as she lifted her arm out only for him to catch her hand and rub his thumb over her knuckles.

"Best not," he warned gently and held her as he stepped closer to wrap his arm around her waist comfortably.

She stared at the world outside the TARDIS, the darkness of space bleeding into a color that she could only think of to describe of as royal purple. Ribbons of energy seemed to be whipping about and crackling along the edges where the purple of space met the shining silver and iridescent green of the Rift. She gasped as the colors changed, the green bleeding into a shimmering red before changing back into green and finally into white. The colors shifted in turn again, one after the other, and when she closed her eyes she could feel the energy against her face. Her full lips parted as she leaned back against The Doctor and tipped her head as she adjusted to a sound that she could almost hear.

"Is it…Is it…singing?" Rose asked as she opened her eyes and looked up to meet The Doctor's gaze.

"You can hear that?" he asked her as a smile spread across his face.

"Almost," Rose said as she frowned in wonder. "It's like…I don't know exactly. It sounds like when someone's playing water glasses or…have you ever heard someone take a hand saw and play it like a violin?"

"Rose Tyler!" The Doctor cheered with a laugh. "You can hear the Rift! Fantastic!"

"Am I not supposed to?" she asked him with a confused laugh.

"Most other species can't and I've not met a human – well aside from you – who can," he told her. "It's the energy of the Rift rubbing against itself. That's the sound you're hearing."

"It's beautiful," Rose told him with wonder as she returned her gaze to the Rift. "It reminds me of whales. Mum took me once when I was young. We went on cruise one summer and I heard the whales sing. Humpbacks I think they were, I don't clearly remember, but it sounds so similar."

He wrapped his arms around her waist as he looked out at the Rift and listened to the bands of time and space rubbing against each other. Rose was right; he thought with a smile, it did sound a bit like a whale's song. He was amazed by her, constantly and completely amazed. She hadn't screamed, not really. She'd been afraid at times certainly, yelled at him a bit and even slapped his arm once, but she hadn't screamed or run away. It took him a few moments to realize that she had fallen asleep in his arms and he lifted her to cradle her against his chest as he walked back up the ramp, the door of the TARDIS closing behind him.

Setting her down on the jump seat, he checked the power levels of the TARDIS and found that they were able to leave the Rift at any time. Full power once again, he noted with a smile and looked back at his sleeping human companion. She was beautiful and young and he knew that he should take her home and leave her to live out her life safely in her world, but he couldn't let her go. She could hear the Rift. That was something unique, something completely special and he frowned as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Did you do that?" he asked the TARDIS and felt her amusement in return.

"_It wasn't my doing. She heard the Rift on her own,"_ the TARDIS answered him inside his mind and he grinned as he turned his eyes on Rose.

"She could hear the Rift on her own," he repeated and laughed. "Rose Tyler, however did I find you?"

Moving around the console as he put in the coordinates for London, setting the date and year for the morning after he'd left with her, he listened with a smile to the familiar sound of his ship in flight. The TARDIS landed with a slight bounce, but Rose remained asleep and The Doctor stepped over to the jump seat that was just big enough for two. Shrugging out of his jacket as he sat next to her, he covered her with the leather coat and put his arm around her. His lips tugged up at the corner when she moved in her sleep, breathing in deeply and snuggling into his side. There was no thought to his actions as his hand moved to her hair and began toying gently with the blonde locks.

Tipping his head to the side, he rested his cheek on her hair and looked at his TARDIS. What was it about this girl, this one human girl that felt so important to him? He'd had so many companions over his nine hundred years, but something about Rose Tyler felt too important to lose. His eyes closed though he didn't sleep, his physiology requiring him to only need one night of sleep every five days and only four or six hours at the most. The only time he slept more than that was after having regenerated. It was the one time that he would sleep for eight or more hours every night for a week or more depending on how taxing the cycle was.

He could feel the time pass, the seconds and minutes tick by as they turned into hours. It was the curse of the Time Lords. Unlike any other species, they felt time down to the fraction of a second and could never stand still for very long. Well at least he couldn't. He had to move, had to wander and explore. He was always running always traveling, but now he sat here in his TARDIS going nowhere and simply holding a human as she slept against his side. He couldn't remember doing this with any of his other companions, but he couldn't imagine letting Rose go or being anywhere else.

He barely knew her and he already felt this attached. What was he going to do when she woke up? He was certain that she would want to go home now. After all that she had been through with the living plastic and then the end of the Earth. He frowned as he tipped his head down and looked at the grating of the floor. Why would she want to stay with him when he had proven to her more than once how dangerous it was to be near him? It was twice now in as many days that she had nearly been killed and it was all because of knowing him.

"Doctor?"

He looked down when Rose spoke, his name mumbled and gave a soft breath of amusement when he found her to still be sleeping. So Rose Tyler talked in her sleep, did she? Petting her hair, he spoke to her softly and assured her that he was still there beside her. He wasn't going anywhere, he told her and listened to the soft hum she gave as she quieted down and drifted into a deeper sleep. Closing his eyes as he held her, he focused his senses on her and listened to the steady slow thrumming of her single heart.

One heart, he thought as he listened to the soothing repetition of her pulse. Humans only had the one heart, but they were far more passionate than his species ever were and Gallifreyans had two hearts. Was it because they had such a limited lifespan that they were more creative, more emotional? After all his travels, all his meetings with different humans in different times and he still didn't quite understand what made the human race so different. They won wars that logic and reason said they had no chance of winning. They made alliances with other species in the galaxy that couldn't even settle their own disputes, but somehow the Great Human Empire in two hundred years Rose's future were able to be the great diplomats of the universe.

She moaned softly, the sound calling his attention away from his thoughts and The doctor looked down at the girl tucked against his side. She shifted slightly, a frown marring her brow as she opened her eyes and covered her mouth before yawning. Five hours and thirty-two minutes, he thought as he watched her wake slowly. She must have been tired and he was glad that she had gotten the rest she needed. He watched her face as she blinked and looked around at the TARDIS. Her expression was subdued, her thoughts written on her face and he felt his sadness return.

She didn't say anything as she sat up and he took his jacket back when she handed it to him, feeling her warmth surrounding him. Her scent was infused in the coat now, the mix of sunshine and honey, cinnamon and tea calming him with every indrawn breath. He watched her stand and look at the door of the TARDIS before she looked back at him. He nodded once, his expression neutral as he watched her walk down the ramp and open the door. He waited for just a moment before following after her and closing the door behind him as he exited the TARDIS.

The street he had landed on was busy with people, the humans bustling about as they walked back and forth like ants marching around and over top each other. She stopped only twenty feet away from the TARDIS, still not speaking as she looked around and he could feel the dread building as he fought to keep the emotion from his face. Why was she so different than his other companions? Why was the thought of losing her worse than anything he'd ever felt before?

Rose stood still in the street as she watched the people passing her by unable to shake the image of the Earth tearing apart from her mind. They didn't know, not one of them did and she felt older than her years as she listened to them laugh as they talked. The sound of a baby's cries caught her attention and she breathed in deeply as she fought back the emotions swirling inside of her. There was a Frenchman selling papers off to the side and still not one of them knew. They didn't think about the Earth ending or the day when they might not be able to make a home on this planet again.

They didn't think about what might happen ten or twenty or a hundred years from now. It was too far away for them, but for her the death of their planet had been yesterday. Was this what it meant to travel with The Doctor? Did time simply lose all measure of meaning? She could hear his footsteps as he came up behind her; could feel his presence as he stood quietly next to her and waited for him to speak. She needed him to speak first and he seemed to understand that.

"You think it'll last forever," The Doctor said as he glanced at Rose before turning his eyes to the milling crowd around them. "People and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone, even the sky."

He paused for a moment, his twin hearts aching as he worried that these would be his last moments with her. If they were, he told himself, then the least he could do was help her understand him a little bit. After all, that was all she had really been asking for back on the observation deck, wasn't it?

"My planet's gone. It's dead," he told her and felt her attention turn on him before he looked down to meet her gaze. "It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before it's time."

She couldn't imagine not having a home to go to, to be lost in the manner that he was. That was what had shaken her the most when the automated clock had been counting down the time to the Earth's death. It hadn't been the loss of the planet itself or being so far away from everyone she knew, instead it had been the reality that in the time they were her mother was dead. Everyone that she knew was dead and she was there because she could be, because she was with a traveling alien in a time machine.

"What happened?" she asked him, needing to know as much as she needed to hear his voice. It steadied her somehow, his melodic baritone with the northern accent.

"There was a war and we lost," he answered her, sounding so very old to her and worn down in a way that made her want to comfort him any way she could.

"A war with who?" she asked, but somehow knew that he wouldn't answer that question. She cleared her throat if only to speak without her emotions coloring her words. "What about your people?"

He turned his gaze back to her. "I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left traveling on my own because there's no one else."

She could see the anguish in his expression, her heart reaching out to him immediately as she spoke.

"There's me," she told him, reminding him that she was there, feeling the resolve to stay with him if he would let her, and met his gaze when he turned his eyes on her.

"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?" he asked, offering her an out. She could still walk away; she didn't have to stay with him.

Rose frowned as she considered his question. "I don't know," she said as she looked into his eyes. "I want…" she trailed off and the most tantalizing scent caught her attention and she looked around as she breathed in deeply once more. "Oh. Can you smell chips?"

The Doctor looked confused for a moment before he broke out into a wide smile and laughed. "Yeah, yeah."

"I want chips," she told him sincerely, her mouth watering at the thought of food.

"Me too," he laughed and met her smile with a grin of his own.

"Right then, before you get me back in that box of yours, chips it is and you can pay," she told him her mind already halfway gone with the thought and scent of food.

"No money," he told her with a shrug, smiling as he looked at her and felt his hearts swell with the hope she was bringing him. She was staying with him.

"What sort of date are you?" she asked him with a teasing smile. "Come on then, tightwad. Chips are on me. I only got five billion years until the shops close."

She met his blue eyes with a wide smile, her tongue coming out to curl up over her canine and touch the edge of her lip. Her smile was infectious, infusing his being with warmth and making him feel as though everything would always be alright so long as she was by his side. Offering her his hand, he felt his twin hearts race when she took it and squeezed his hand in a tight grip before holding his hand comfortably and leading him away. He followed her easily, willingly and every time she looked back at him she had that same wide smile on her face.

"Come on," she told him with a laugh as she tugged him into the chippie behind herself and closed her eyes as she breathed in deeply.

"You gonna get any food then?" he asked as she remained still, uncaring that people were looking at them.

"Blimey it smells…" She breathed in deeply and gave a soft moan of approval that only he was able to hear. "It smells _really_ good," she told him and moved slowly up to the counter.

His lips tingled with the taste of the salt in the air and he breathed in the airborne flavor of food only for his senses to be drowned in Rose's scent instead. She looked back at him, her eyes bright and shining with adventure and happiness as she seemed to be waiting for him. He shook his head before she widened her eyes slightly and tipped her head back to the sign above the counter. He laughed then and nodded as he turned his eyes up to the blackboard and read the menu written in different colors of chalk. He looked down when Rose smiled, not realizing how close they were standing until she leaned back against him and tipped her head up to meet his gaze.

He smiled as he reached around her for the Styrofoam containers and carried them as he followed her to a table. Looking down as he opened his container, he watched her reach across the table to grip his hand and he smiled as he looked up to meet her gaze. She didn't say anything, just smiled and it was all he needed. After everything he had done and after all he had seen, she was there with him and it made his long controlled emotions freer than they'd been in more than a century. Forever didn't seem so lonely or so long with Rose by his side.


	3. Chapter 2 - The Unquiet Dead

Chapter 2

The Unquiet Dead

They had saved people. She had gotten to meet Charles Dickens and step into the late nineteenth century. She had met a servant girl who had saved the world from a species of alien that had appeared to everyone as ghosts. She had been with The Doctor, she was safe. She was on board the TARDIS; she was back to a place that she had come to think of as home. She was safe. Reaching up for the strips of soft cloth that tied the shawl around her shoulders she was reminded of when and why she had lost it and she closed her eyes as she tried to push back the memory of being drugged and kidnapped. She had become skilled at pushing dark memories away, but this one was too fresh and she couldn't make it silent. Chloroform. She had known the scent of it and the after effect that was felt once she woke. Jimmy had used chloroform.

"Stop it," she whispered to herself, fisting her hands in front of her and took in a series of deep breaths as she focused on the memory of Gwyneth.

He stood behind her with a discerning frown as he stared at her back. His eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest. That was twice now that he had called her name and she hadn't heard him either time. She had been happy and fine once they had come back to the TARDIS, she hadn't let on once that any of it had bothered her, but he knew that he would be a fool to think it hadn't. She was human, she was young, and this wasn't the first time that she had nearly died, but it had been the closest she had come to it.

He called to her again as he uncrossed his arms and stepped up behind her, but still she didn't respond. Lifting his hand, he touched her shoulder and took a step back when she spun around with wide eyes. She was going to try and hide the fear in her gaze, he could see that clearly, but she had every right to be afraid. He didn't say anything as he reached out and pulled her into his arms. Words had no place here and if his nine hundred years had taught him anything, it was to know when silence was best. She stiffened in his arms even as he felt her hands fist in his jumper and then she relaxed against him.

Breathing in deeply, The Doctor wrapped his arms tighter around Rose, holding her closer as he felt her fists tighten in his clothing. Her body was relaxed, but her hands weren't and he had a nagging suspicion that she was trying not to show how truly frightened she had been. She was brave, his Rose. She had told off that old man for drugging and kidnapping her, something he had found endlessly amusing to witness and then she had stood up to him in defense of Gwyneth. She had argued with him and fought with him and as annoyed as it had made him, he had loved it as well. Rose balanced him, reminded him not to forget himself. She reminded him of why he fought and what it was that he was fighting for.

"Why don't you get changed while I make us a nice cup of tea," he told her as he rubbed her back between her shoulders, her skin warm and velvety soft beneath his fingers. "Meet me in the library once you're done."

"There's a library?" Rose asked when he pulled back from their embrace, missing his arms around her immediately.

"Yeah," he nodded and gave her a smile. "TARDIS will show ya the way. Just listen for her proddin' you about. May only feel like a nudge or such to you."

"Can she talk?" Rose asked and watched as he nodded with a grin.

"Well, to me she can. Don't know that anyone else has ever been able to hear her," The Doctor told her with a sideways tilt of his head, a kind of shrug that she had grown used to.

She nodded quietly and turned around. He watched her for a moment, her silence worrying him, but understood that she may simply need time to adjust to all that had happened. Turning his head to look back at the door behind him, he moved to walk away when her voice stopped him. Looking back and meeting her gaze as she looked at him over her shoulder, he watched her blush as she asked him to help her with the uppermost hooks on the back of her dress. His lips parted as though he meant to say something, but he remained quiet as he looked at her and nodded once before stepping up behind her once more.

Rose turned her head back around to face in front of her when she felt his strong cool fingers dip into the back of her dress, her tongue peeking out to wet her suddenly dry lips as she stood quietly. She didn't dare look at him lest he see the truth in her eyes and bit her lip as the first hook came free. The Doctor closed his eyes tightly as he released the first hook, stilling before he began to undo the second. He was a master of meditation, able to control his body's impulses or focus his mind on a particular task until there was nothing else. It had been centuries since he had last allowed himself to even feel aroused. He had never once had a problem controlling that particular matter of his biology before, but now he did.

They both gasped as he undid the third hook, the indrawn breaths silent and neither aware of the other's growing tension. He came to the fourth when she stopped him, her voice breathless and in some manner choked as she told him that she could handle it from there. He nodded without speaking as he turned and left the room, leaving her alone to change. It didn't take him long to find the kitchen and when he did, he found that the TARDIS already had a pot of water heating on the stove. Bracing his hands on the counter's edge, he closed his eyes and focused on his respiratory and central nervous systems.

It didn't take him more than a moment to force the arousal down, to steady his hormones and become calm once more. _Time Lords must not succumb to the carnal urges of the lesser species_, he recited the tenants of his people in his mind. Cultural teachings aside, he was a fool if he thought she would be interested in him in such a manner. What with his daft old face and big ears. Taking the tin from the back of the counter, he added the dried leaves to the porcelain tea pot and poured the boiling water over it before putting on the lid. He waited as the tea steeped, gathering mugs from the cupboard and adding the cream and sugar as they each preferred. Pouring the tea into the mugs, he carried them with him into the library and waited for Rose to appear as he sat on the couch.

He looked up when she walked in, her clothes once more her own, and called her name when she failed to notice him. He gave a quiet chuckle when she commented on the size of the ship and nodded with a wide grin. The TARDIS was quite huge and there were many places she had yet to discover. He met her smile with one of his own and offered her the seat next to him as she stepped further into the room. He handed her the mug of tea he'd prepared for her when she sat down and watched as she wrapped her hands tightly around the mug.

"Cold?" he asked as he watched her cradle the mug.

"A bit," Rose nodded and took in a deep breath.

"Come here," he said and lifted his arm, a crooked smile tipping his lips when she tucked herself against his side without question. "I know I may not feel warm to you, but…"

"No," she denied his worries and closed her eyes as she breathed in his scent. "You feel plenty warm." _Or at least I feel much warmer when you hold me,_ she thought as she turned and leaned against his chest. "What've you got there?" she asked, nodding toward the large book by his tea.

"Charles Dickens!" The Doctor cheered as he lifted the book and set it on his knee. "You didn't know who he was, did you?" he asked her half-teasing and half-curious.

"I wasn't really thinking about him at the time," Rose said defensively and heard him chuckle. "Everyone knows of Marley's ghost, don't they?"

"Course they do," he agreed easily. "You were fantastic. Never even occurred to you to try and run away to save your own life, did it?"

"Why would I?" she asked him with a half smile of confusion. "It wasn't just me in there, besides that I wasn't gonna leave you to fight them on your own."

"Rose Tyler," he spoke her name and grinned. "Fancy a story?" he asked her and lifted the book from his knee.

"I've seen you read," she told him with a laugh. "You flip through the book and then you're all done before I'd have time to read one sentence!"

"Thought I might read to you," he told her with a teasing smile.

"Yeah?" she asked and snuggled against his side. "Alright then, get to it."

He chuckled as he opened the book and she laughed when he turned to his favorite short story. Rolling her eyes as she teased him for reading her a scary story before bed, she felt a surge of warmth infuse her being when he tightened his arm around her and promised to protect her. Did he know the effect that had on her, she wondered. The way he held her and swore to keep her safe from her dreams, it set off sparks of heat between her heart and other realms she dare not think about. Mickey had been the only one she'd ever slept with aside from…she turned her head down, her cheek still resting against The Doctor's chest, and pushed thoughts of Jimmy aside as much as she could. If The Doctor ever knew the truth, if anyone ever knew the truth about Jimmy…

"Rose?"

She turned her head up at the sound of his voice, her lips parting as though she meant to speak when he slid his hand against her face and cupped her cheek in his palm. She met his blue eyes, the concern in them silencing her and for the first time in years felt absolutely safe as though nothing could ever harm her so long as she was with him. Kissing her brow as he chaffed the pad of his thumb slowly over the curve of her cheek, he looked upon her with worry. She had gotten lost on him again, something in her own thoughts troubling her and he didn't know if it had to do with the events of the night or not. Was she thinking about Gwyneth or something else?

"Just tired," Rose said softly and though he knew that she was in some manner lying, he let it pass without question.

"Well, here," he said as kept his arm around her and shifted their positions. "Let's try this then," he told her and laid back on the couch, her head pillowed on his chest. "You can just fall asleep if you like. Don't need to worry about a thing. I'll just keep reading."

"Yeah?" she asked him and gave him a curious pout when he covered her with a blanket. "That wasn't there a minute ago."

"Gift of the TARDIS," he told her as he tucked the cloth around her. "She can sense when you need something and will sometimes make those things appear for you."

"Like the mugs in the kitchen?" she asked and watched him nod.

"Just like," he told her and opened the book once more. "Close your eyes, Rose Tyler," he told her softly before beginning to read aloud once more.

She pressed closer to him, resting her arm across his stomach as he began to read aloud and sighed softly with content. The blanket kept her warm as did The Doctor, though the two things couldn't be compared. He warmed her from the inside out, making her feel safe, making her feel special while the blanket simply held in her own natural body heat. She had nearly died with him that night, but she knew beyond the shadow of any doubt that she wouldn't have traded tonight for the world. She loved being with him, no matter the danger, no matter the distance from home. Being with him was worth all of it and so much more.

He turned the page of the book as he read to her, feeling the steady thrum of her heartbeat against his side and turned his head to look at her face. Her eyes were closed, the hint of a smile on her face making her look peaceful. Closing the book as he set it aside on the table, he wrapped both of his arms around her and held her close. He had always hated stillness, never wanting to remain in one place for too long, but for some reason he didn't seem to mind it as much in that moment. He didn't need to sleep, there were still at least three days before his body would require him to do so, but still he found himself closing his eyes.

He never transitioned from being awake to sleeping, simply remained lying next to her and holding her with his eyes closed. He knew that he needed to meditate, his control had slipped twice tonight and he couldn't let it happen again. She was like fire, his Rose, beautiful and dangerous all at once. He had turned away after first seeing her in the dress, having felt his mouth water when he had stared at her. The second time was when she had asked for help undoing the hooks on the dress and the feel of it had sent a cascade of hormones through his veins. He'd never found it so hard to control his own impulses or desires before, but around Rose it felt that almost every moment was a fight to control himself. Who was she to have such power over him?

Her scent and heat surrounded him, his body responding to it as though it were a siren's call and he bit the inside of his cheek to steady himself. He held her as he began to recite the tenants of his people, the Gallifreyan words falling from his lips in a steady repetition. She pressed closer to him each time he repeated the third meditation –_Love and passion are emotions which must never be entertained by a Time Lord. These are the follies of the lesser species. _He knew that she was asleep, knew that Gallifreyan wouldn't be translated for her by the TARDIS, but swore that she somehow understood. It was as though she were denying him, telling him that it was wrong and that he should allow his heart to be open.

He fell silent when the sound of her heartbeat called his attention. The rhythm was increasing, at first it was only a few beats more per minute, making him believe that she was slowly waking, but then the tempo increased tenfold. His eyes snapped open as he turned his full attention on her and looked down into her sleeping face, finding her brows pulled together in a deep frown. He called to her when she whimpered, caught her hand when she beat her fist against his chest and promised her that she was safe. He could feel her trembling, the scent of her blood changing as adrenaline flooded her veins.

Some part of her knew that she was dreaming, knew that she was asleep in The Doctor's arms, but a greater part of her couldn't tell the difference between what felt real and what actually was real. The scent of chloroform invaded her senses and she fought against the person holding her from behind as she tried not to succumb to the drug. The more she struggled against the person holding her, the tighter she felt herself being restrained until she was mad with the fear. She was ready to scream, to bite or claw or whatever else was needed when it came to her like a whisper and she stilled as she reached for the sound.

"Rose," The Doctor spoke her name as he held her still, doing what he could to keep her from hurting herself or him. "Rose, I'm right here with you. We're on board the TARDIS. You're safe, Rose. I promise you, you're safe."

"Doctor?" she whimpered as she called out to him, her eyes closed as she lay in his arms still trapped in her nightmare.

"I'm right here, Rose," he told her as he looked down into her sleeping face, her fear and desperation gripping his twin hearts in an icy hold. "Just open your eyes. That's all you have to do. Just open your eyes, Rose."

"I can't find you," she whimpered, tears slipping from the corners of her tightly closed eyes.

"Oh, Rose," he mourned her name as he dropped his head and closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Rose. I never meant for you to be in that kind of danger." He lifted his head and looked down at her, his blue eyes full of doubt and blame as he cursed himself for being the cause of her nightmares. "Please wake up for me, Rose," he pleaded with her and pressed his lips to her forehead.

She could feel water on her face, water surrounding her as one memory turned nightmare blended into another and she wished for nothing more than to escape. The zombies were gone, the nineteenth century dress was gone, and in its place she was left in a dingy hotel room where she was being pressed down beneath the surface of cool bathwater. Her lungs were burning, her sight growing dim and she renewed her struggles, her desperation fueling her attempts to break free. Each time that she felt certain she would die; she would feel a gentle pressure against her mouth before air was forced into her lungs. She knew she would die, there was no way out. It was happening again and just the same as so many years ago, she knew she that there was no way to escape.

"I'm so sorry," The Doctor apologized as he looked down on Rose, her lips parted. "Forgive me, Rose," he whispered seconds before his hand connected with her cheek.

Her reaction was immediate, her eyes snapping open as she choked and gasped for air. The Doctor caught her easily when she tried to bolt from the couch, holding her to his chest as he sat them both upright and spoke to her softly. Her eyes flooded with tears, her hand going to her throat as the air around her became impossible to breathe. She knew she was having a panic attack, knew the familiar feel of it and cursed herself for being so weak in front of The Doctor. He moved her back, his hands cupping her face as he tipped her head up and looked into her wide frightened eyes.

His voice was steady and calm as he spoke to her, telling her to look at him, to focus on him. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she tried desperately to calm herself. She had never wanted him to see her like this, never wanted anyone to see her like this. It felt as though it took forever before she was able to breathe normally again, her panic finally leaving her until she was nothing more than an exhausted bundle of overwrought nerves. Part of her expected The Doctor to take her home, believing that he would tell her wasn't strong enough to travel with him anymore, but instead of saying anything at all, he wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly.

"I'm here, Rose. I've got you," he promised her fervently as he stroked her hair. "I'm sorry, Rose. We made it out, but…"

"Not your fault," she interrupted him, her voice weak. "St-stupid dream," she said as she felt her exhaustion growing.

"You've gone and exhausted yourself," he told her and heard her soft breathy chuckle. "Go to sleep now, Rose. I've got you."

She whimpered softly as she turned her face into the curve of his throat and breathed in deeply of his scent. He rubbed her back as he felt the soft brush of her lashes against his skin and seconds later he heard a soft sigh escape her as she returned to sleep. He had been around long enough to know that her reactions weren't normal and whatever had changed her nightmare in the end wasn't what had happened last night. The sounds she had made, the way she had stopped breathing and he had been left with no choice but to breathe for her, whatever that was it was deeper and older than the events with the Gelf.

He stood from the couch with her cradled in his arms and carried her out of the library. An hour ago he had been considering leaving her to sleep in the library while he returned to the console room, but after her nightmare and everything that followed there was no way he would leave her alone. His lips tipped up in a fleeting sad smile when he found his bedroom to be the next room down the hall and knew that the TARDIS had moved it for him. Nodding once as he thanked his ship telepathically, he walked into the room when the door opened for him.

There was no thought, no hesitation or second guessing himself as he carried Rose to his bed and laid her down on it. Leaning her up as he lowered the zipper and removed her jumper, he tucked her beneath the blankets. Her blonde hair spilled over his pillow and he watched as she rolled onto her side, whimpering softly in her sleep as she reached out her arm across the bed. He touched her cheek to calm her, tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled softly as he watched her grasp one of his pillows and hug it to her chest. He would take her back to the library in a few hours once she'd had enough time to sleep peacefully and recover from her nightmare and resulting panic attack, but for now he wanted her to sleep comfortably.

It didn't escape his notice that she was the first person he had ever allowed into his bedroom, his inner sanctum inside the TARDIS. Nor did he fail to take notice that he had brought her inside and laid her in his bed without her ever having asked to see something so personal to him. There had been other companions before her. There had been times when those he had traveled with before her had become frightened or had their sleep disturbed, but she was the first one he had held, the first one he had ever allowed to sleep in his arms or his bed. His brow furrowed as he watched her sleep and wondered once more what it was that made Rose Tyler so different from anyone else. What made him feel the need to have her with him?

She sighed in her sleep, whimpering his name as she rolled onto her back and he gave a soft amused breath as he watched her sleep. Who was this girl that fought so fearlessly by his side? How had she gotten so deep under his skin when none of his other companions had? Standing from the bed, he moved to his closet and withdrew a set of jimjams deciding that if he was going to watch over her while she slept in his bed, then the least he could do was be comfortable while he kept his vigil. It didn't take him long to change, and he slipped under the blankets carefully so as not to disturb her only to roll his eyes when she tucked herself immediately against his side without waking.

"Rose Tyler," he spoke her name as he wrapped his arm around her and held her close to his side, his hand resting on her waist.

"Doctor," she mumbled, sighing in her sleep.

"I'll keep you safe, Rose," he promised her softly, feeling more open with her while she slept and knowing that she'd have no memory of it.

**:::::**

She woke slowly, her throat feeling somehow dry and her head aching. She could remember falling asleep in The Doctor's arms, his deep voice lulling her to sleep with words written by Charles Dickens, but there wasn't much else after that. She was still in his arms now she found, his hand stroking down over her hair when she groaned. He didn't say anything, didn't act as though he had anywhere to be or try to move her just so that he was no longer being used as her pillow. Instead, he simply lay beside her on the couch in the library with a book in his hand that he was quietly reading, content to hold her for as long as she would let him.

Tipping her head up as she left her cheek pillowed on his chest, she turned her eyes to his face and watched him as he read. He didn't seem to mind her observation of him, didn't take his eyes off the book for more than a half glance with a smile of greeting, and she wondered what had his attention so focused. Turning her eyes onto the book, she frowned as she looked at the symbols that seemed to be written in circles with different geometric shapes inside of them. The TARDIS translated alien languages for her all the time. She'd been able to read the strange writing on the observation deck when they'd watched the Earth burn and die as the sun expanded, but she couldn't read the symbols on his book.

"It's Gallifreyan," he told her when he caught her studying the book. "It's the one language the TARDIS won't translate."

"Gallifreyan?" Rose repeated the word as she tried to determine why it sounded familiar to her.

"My people, my language," he told her as they sat up together and smiled at her efforts to casually check for wet spots on his leather coat. "You didn't drool on me if that's what you're looking for."

Rose blushed and bit her bottom lip as she laughed silently. "Think you're so smart, don't you?" she teased him with a wide smile.

"I know I am," he told her with a nod and delighted in her laugh. "I'll make us some tea if you want to change. You can have a shower, too if you like," he offered and saw the confusion on her face.

"Where exactly would I do that? I didn't see a shower or anything of the like in the wardrobe room," she said and watched as he smiled at her.

She wondered if he had any idea the kind of effect he had on her. It wasn't simply his smiles, the way he looked or the sound of his voice. It was so much more than that. He called the human race a bunch of stupid apes, but treated her as though she was the most important thing in the universe to him. She fumbled and fought with him, at times hating herself for how daft she must sound to him, but he never once made her feel dumb for it. He asked her to run away with him, to go with him and showed her the universe in a way that only he could. He made her feel alive and excited in a way that she never thought she ever would again.

There it was, The Doctor thought as he led Rose through the long hallway. She had slipped away on him in her mind and a touch of sadness colored her face in shadows of memory. He doubted she had even taken notice that they'd left the library much less been walking for the past few minutes. She didn't seem to remember her nightmare from last night at all or if she did, she was unwilling to be the one to bring it up in conversation. He called to her as he came to a stop in the hall and looked at the door in front of them.

"Not yet," he told her when she reached out for the door and gave her a smile when she turned her head to look up at him. "It's just an empty room right now with nothing in it."

"Ok," she said curiously and waited for him to explain.

"She'll make it for you," he told her and nodded up in reference to the TARDIS. "Just think of a bedroom, the kind of bedroom you'd want and she'll make it."

"You're kidding yeah?" Rose asked him and saw his lips pull up in that teasing arrogant smile that she was beginning to grow fond of.

"Nope," he teased, "just close your eyes and imagine your bedroom."

She imagined it would be easy enough for him to duplicate her bedroom back home at the Powell Estate, but couldn't remember if he'd seen it or not. She didn't think that he had, but her bedroom back home wasn't what she wanted here. If this was to be her room then that meant that she would be traveling with him for more than just a few trips and she wanted something more. She wanted something that reminded her of where she was and of why this meant so very much to her. Closing her eyes as she thought of him and thought of whom she was when she was with him, she opened her eyes and reached for the door.

The TARDIS hummed softly as she felt Rose's mind reach out and looked into the girl her Time Lord had brought on board as his new companion. She had welcomed the girl in from the first moment, able to feel something different, something special about this pink and yellow human called Rose. This human girl could have created the most spectacular room in her mind. She could easily have imagined splendor and gold, but instead she turned inward, the TARDIS noted. She didn't think about the furniture or the colors, she didn't think about decorations or window treatments. Instead, this human focused her mind on how she felt, on her emotions and the TARDIS fairly sang with pleasure when she heard the soft request spoken from Rose's heart.

His brows furrowed as he looked up at the TARDIS, able to feel the ship's excitement, and The Doctor was surprised once more when Rose opened the door. The walls were painted in myriad of color, deep blues and purples that reminded him of outer space. On the wall to the left, as he walked into the room, was the TARDIS painted against the back drop of the night sky, the Earth sitting below it at an angle. There were two more doors on the left wall, one he knew to be the en suite bathroom and the other to be a private closet for Rose's day to day clothes. There was a bookshelf on the far wall, a thickly stuffed wingback chair sitting beside it and to the right of the room was the bed.

The bed was massive; Rose thought with a smile as she stepped toward it and ran her hand over the smooth duvet. The blanket was thick with stuffing and softer than anything she'd felt before. The colors weren't overly feminine nor were they masculine, but instead they seemed to be perfectly suited to the decoration of the room. She looked down at the decorative design she could almost make out on the bedspread, the blues outlining the patterns only a small fraction of a difference from the rest of the cloth. It was hard for her to distinguish, but not so for The Doctor. He could see the color difference easily, the Gallifreyan words standing out to him and he read the ancient poem that was written across the blanket.

"To sleep among the stars, to wake in a time once gone or a world too lost for words," he read the blanket to her, "This is the gift of a Time Lord."

Rose didn't say anything as she looked back at him, wondering what had turned him into a poet, but didn't ask either. She could barely see the outlines on the blanket, certainly not well enough to tell that they were more than doodles and had no idea that he was reading to her. He hadn't told her where he had come up with the words or that her blanket had Gallifreyan writing on it. She listened to him laugh as she sat on the bed and fell back to lie on it, her eyes closing as a satisfied smile painted her lips. Perhaps a bit larger than a king-sized bed, she had no way of knowing that it was almost an exact duplicate of his.

"_I like her,"_ the TARDIS whispered inside The Doctor's mind.

_Me too_, he responded telepathically as he moved closer to Rose and touched the blanket. He had thought it was Gallifreyan velvet and he was right. This was unlike anything she would have felt before and he knew that she wouldn't be able to guess what the cloth was. To humans, he guessed that it would feel something like suede in texture, but closer to silk. He heard the soft happy sigh that escaped Rose and chuckled when he found her eyes to be closed.

"You asleep again?" he asked and heard her breathy chuckle.

"I could so easily," Rose replied as she opened her eyes and looked at him. "It's like sleeping on a cloud."

"Remind me to take you to Kelortraxia Prime," he told her as she sat up and he offered her his hand as she stood from the bed. "You really can sleep on the clouds there."

"Where are we off to now then?" Rose asked as she moved to the door across the room. "Blimey," she whispered in awe as she walked into the bath. "Oh, I may never leave this room," she said as she looked around.

The bath was half-sunk into the floor, the design one she didn't recognize though it seemed to be the perfect marriage of a claw foot and garden style. It was large enough that she could stretch out completely and still be submerged in the water with no worry of spilling the bath out over the sides. In fact, she thought as she studied it, she quite certain that two people could fit inside it with no problem at all. The sink stood along the opposite wall, the design classic and simple with a mirror sitting behind it. There was enough counter space for all her cosmetics and even more and Rose shook her head as she smiled.

"It's perfect," she said as she looked in the mirror and found The Doctor to be standing in the open doorway. "What?" she asked when she found him to be staring.

He didn't say anything, only grinned in that teasing way of his before turning away and walking through her bedroom. He called out to her, telling her to find him in the console room once she was done. Part of him wondered if the design had been in her mind or something the TARDIS had chosen instead, but he refused to ask. Asking Rose would only result in her curiosity and he certainly had no intention of telling her how similar her room was to his. Other companions that he had traveled with in the past had their own rooms, but the designs that had resulted were almost Spartan in their lack of splendor. Had Rose asked for more or had the TARDIS given her more?

His questions only brought more questions to mind. The first of which had been nagging at him since his ship had spoken to him. Not once had the TARDIS ever commented on his other companions, but she had done so for Rose. She had told him point blank that she liked Rose, but it had been in that gentle fleeting whisper that made him almost forget what she had said almost as soon as she had spoken. Did that mean that the TARDIS hadn't liked any of his other companions or did it simply mean that there was something special about Rose? He frowned as he twisted the knobs and turned the dials on the controls. Asking the TARDIS for an answer to his questions had proved fruitless more than once and he knew that she wouldn't give him an answer to such a question unless she wanted to.

"Do you enjoy being so stubborn and contrary or is it just habit?" he asked aloud and Rose froze behind him as she stepped out of the hall.

"Sorry?" she asked and watched as he spun around, his blue eyes wide.

"Not you," he told her and sighed as he gave a quick glance up. "That was quick," he said and Rose laughed.

"Aren't you supposed to be a Time Lord?" she asked with a wide smile as she watched him move about the console. "It's been more than an hour," she told him when he arched a brow at her.

"It's been…" he stopped to take notice of his mental clock and rolled his eyes. "One hour and forty minutes," he said to himself and watched Rose grin. "Got distracted."

"Well don't blame her," Rose said as she moved up to the jump seat and sat down as he fiddled with the controls. "I didn't have anything packed," she told him with a wide smile. "No other clothes or products, but the TARDIS had everything I would need. She's amazing, your ship."

Rose felt the soft hum at the back of her mind and watched as The Doctor stilled and looked at her. He met her gaze curiously and asked her if she had requested the items of the TARDIS. Meeting him with a mix of confusion and humor, he could tell that she thought him daft for asking, and told him that the items had simply been there waiting for her. She had stepped out of the bathroom to close the door of her bedroom and when she had returned she had found a thick towel waiting for her on a small shelf next to the tub. There had been scented soaps, shampoo and conditioner waiting for her as well.

"When I was done with my bath I found these," she nodded down to the clothes she was wearing, "sitting in a neatly folded pile on the bed. Didn't have to ask or anything. It was just there."

"Oi, that's…" He stopped himself from speaking, his lips pressed tightly together as he refused to finish what he had almost said.

"That's what?" Rose asked and looked down at the dark jumper she was wearing. "What?" she asked again.

"Nothing," he said as he turned back to the controls. _That was my jumper, Old Girl_, he directed his thoughts to the TARDIS and felt only her humor in response. "Thought you might want to do a bit of shopping before I take you home," he told her, his back turned to her as he moved the controls. "Need to pick up a few parts for the TARDIS anyway and there's this nice little bartering planet."

"Home?" Rose asked and watched him turn his head to look at her.

"Thought we'd stop off for a visit. You could grab whatever you need," he told her and watched as her expression changed to one of relief and then delight.

"A visit would be nice," she said and watched him smile again.

He knew from the expression on her face that she had believed he meant to take her home and leave her there. A part of him had thought about taking her home last night when she had argued with him about the Gelf, but in seconds the same thought had been dismissed without question. She had only been with him a short time, not even a full week yet, but already he found himself irrevocably attached to her. To be without her, the thought of not having her by his side was somehow terrifying and he found that he couldn't look at her lest she see the truth of it in his eyes. He used the sarcasm to cover his emotion, turning around to warn her not to get lost in the crowd of the marketplace when he found her already lost in her own thoughts.

It was there again, he thought, that sadness that seemed to haunt her and he didn't understand it. What wasn't he seeing? With all of his knowledge and all of his power as a Time Lord and he couldn't seem to see what was bringing her such melancholy. She looked up to find him staring and offered him a brilliant smile, her excitement showing and shook his head as he smiled in response. It must be his imagination, he thought. He had seen so much darkness that now he was casting that upon her, he told himself and held out his hand before stepping with her toward the door. She was simply distracted by thoughts not some dark and horrible past.

He held her hand as they stepped outside the TARDIS, watching the expression on her face as she looked around at the marketplace before turning her eyes up to the sky. He waited for her to get her fill, her eyes wide as she took everything in. The aliens of this planet looked close to humans, the exception being their hair and eyes. She'd never seen anyone with red eyes before, but the color of it wasn't frightening at all, simply different. She tried to hide her smile at their hair, the color of blue reminding her of sapphires. Blue hair and red eyes, she thought, it was as odd as it was fascinating.

"As if you're normal to us," a woman said as she passed them by and Rose turned her eyes to The Doctor.

"Telepathic species," he said as he met her gaze. "They're not terribly strong. If you think of a wall surrounding your mind it should be enough to block them." She nodded only once, her grip on his hand tightening and he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "Scared?" he teased her and watched as she shook her head. "Don't wander too far. Stay close to the TARDIS," he told her as he released her hand and watched her eyes widen in response.

"Where are you off to then?" she asked him, her tone a bit sharper than she had intended.

"Nothin' to worry about," he told her with a smile. "The place I'm going for the parts isn't too friendly to humans is all. This is a bartering society, like I told you. You won't need money if you want to purchase something, but they may ask for something of yours in exchange or for you to do something."

"Doctor," she looked at him, before looking around at the market and nodding to herself. "I'll be fine."

"'Course you will," he told her with a smile. "I won't be long."

Rose laughed and shook her head as she watched him walk away. He was a Time Lord who had no concept of time or so she told herself. She turned toward one of the stalls, not seeing The Doctor look back at her, his blue eyes full of emotions that could never be spoken. How many of his companions had he kissed before, he thought as he watched Rose converse with one of the aliens. How many had he kissed right after meeting them without a thought or care in the world? He couldn't kiss her though; he couldn't even come close to it. Not with her, not with Rose. He knew without a single doubt that if he were ever to kiss Rose Tyler, he'd never be able to walk away from her. A single kiss would be his undoing.


	4. Chapter 3 - Aliens of London

Chapter 3

Aliens of London

The first of the planet's three suns was beginning to descend, leaving the sky in cascading shades of purples and reds. She watched the colors change as she stood in the open square, her distraction noticed by the alien manning the shop behind her. The stalls were each fairly packed with people and items, the sizes of them ranging between small booths to tents that could be partitioned into rooms. Turning her attention away from the sky, Rose looked in the direction The Doctor had disappeared to, her mind filled with the memories of falling asleep in his arms and waking up there as well.

It was nothing really, almost too subtle for her to have taken notice of and if she hadn't spent the night in his embrace, Rose was fairly certain she would have missed it. She was falling for him. Each moment he became more important to her than the last and it had nothing to do with the places he had taken her to. They were spectacular yes, this world and those he had already shown her, but she knew that if his ability to take her traveling through time and space vanished tomorrow, her love for him would not. He made her feel alive. He made her feel beautiful and important and…

Rose looked down at the ground for a moment as she steadied herself and gained control over her emotions. He made her feel worth it. After all that she had been through at Jimmy's hands, after all that she had seen and the endless questions and warnings that came from her mother and Mickey, it was The Doctor who made her feel as though she was worth more than what her past told her she was. She closed her eyes as the sound of his voice echoed in her mind, the smooth baritone forming words and gliding over phrases as he read to her. She knew then, the same as she had on the observation deck, that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

Turning around, Rose looked up and met the crimson gaze of the older woman watching her, the alien's sapphire hair braided and swept up in an artistic manner. She felt her lips bend up in a soft smile as she stepped forward into the three-sided tent-covered booth and looked around at the wares. Her brow furrowed, the edge of her lip catching between her teeth in confusion and wonder as she reached her hand out to touch the neatly folded blanket, never noticing how the alien and her daughter were watching her.

The cloth of the blanket was white, the feel of it reminding her of the brushed lamb's wool blanket she had back home. She felt her attention drawn closer to the blanket, unable to resist lifting it up from the shelf as she caught the trace scent of something delicate and beautiful. She didn't know what they would ask for it, but as soon as she buried her nose in the fabric and breathed in the scent that seemed to be a mix of cloves, sandalwood, and cinnamon, she knew she had to have it. Turning around to ask her question, Rose found a young girl looking at her, guessing that they were close in age and from her features, believing her to be the shop keeper's daughter.

"My apologies," the girl said as she nodded to the small sample tray in her hand. "I did not realize you were not a telepath. Would you like to try one?" she asked and offered out the tray to Rose.

"Thank you," Rose smiled and lifted the small dark piece from the tray, sniffing it once before taking a small bite.

She hadn't been sure what the piece of food would be, but nearly groaned when the flavor filled her mouth. It had to be the most exquisite chocolate she had ever had, the center filled with some kind of whipped cream that tasted like Macadamia nuts. The girl smiled widely at Rose, listening to her thoughts before reaching for a box that contained more of the treats. Both she and her mother had been monitoring Rose from the moment her thoughts had turned to the man she call The Doctor. The love there was strong, the beauty of her musings drawing them both in like a moth to a flame.

"Oh, these would be perfect for her," Rose said as she lifted two folded cloths from a basket, the feel of them reminding her of microfiber.

"We have an oil that would be very soothing when applied," the girl offered her, glancing back at her mother and nodding with a smile.

Rose frowned as she looked at the items already set aside. "I don't know, I don't actually have any money. What would you ask for all of this?" she asked as she looked at the blanket, the rather large box of chocolates, and the two cloths she had selected.

"We shall add these things," the girl said, once again meeting her mother's smile with one of her own before returning her attention to Rose. "Oh, I'm sorry. It must seem rude to you. My mother doesn't speak aloud. She was never taught to, but she is very happy for you and would like to offer you the full set."

"Set?" Rose shook her head in confusion.

"Yes," the girl smiled to her. "There is a pillow that goes with that blanket, the oil for the cloths. There is also another box of those," she nodded to Rose's chocolates. "A lighter flavor meant to be eaten when you wake. One light colored one in the morning and one dark one before bed," she told Rose with a smile. "There is also this," she held out a cloth covered orb to Rose, pulling back the fine layer of fabric to reveal what looked like a crystal ball. "It's a Friksteppen."

"I'm sorry a what?" Rose asked, wondering why the TARDIS hadn't translated the word for her.

"It will tell you when you are ready," the girl told her, a wide smile on her face. "Here, let me put these into a bag for you. Keep the Friksteppen by your bed, when the color changes to match your skin and you see a pink glow in the middle that means you're ready."

Rose wondered what it all meant, what the orb was supposed to tell her she was ready for, but didn't want to appear daft by asking. She wondered if the word they had called it was a name. It would make sense if it were, the TARDIS had no translation for names, but if it was a description and not a name, did that mean that there wasn't an equivalent in her language for what it was? She turned back to the women, smiling her thanks as the items were packaged for her in a draw string bag and she found herself amused at the sheer size of it.

_Her hair,_ the elder alien spoke to her daughter telepathically. _She is going to ask again what payment we would want for the items. Tell her that I want only to braid her hair._

_The blessings!_ The younger girl replied with a wide smile. _The feel of her heart and the depth of her love…Oh, mother she will be wonderful._

_Yes,_ the woman nodded. _It has been many generations since I have last seen such a well matched pair. _

_I don't think she knows though,_ the young girl said as she watched Rose lift a small hand pillow to her face and breathe in deeply of its scent.

_Of course, she knows. Don't be dull, child. She may be from a different planet, but all things work the same. She has made the choice; it is there in her heart. The least we can do is prepare her,_ she told her daughter before moving up to Rose and holding her hand out for the small pillow.

She had no way of speaking to Rose, the girl's ability not nearly strong enough for true communication. Meeting Rose's gaze when the pillow was placed in her hand, she held it up and gave Rose a formal nod and quarter bow before placing the small pillow in the top of the bag and closing the drawstring once more. She was glad that her daughter was here with them, the girl helping her to talk with non-telepaths. Brought up in a time when verbal speech was almost unheard of, she had never used her physical voice and had no practice in forming the spoken communication that was needed.

"What can I give you for this?" Rose asked as she looked between the women and nodded at the bag.

"My mother and I would like to fold your hair," the girl said and sensed Rose's confusion. "Braid," she offered the word. "We've not seen your color of hair before."

"Oh," Rose smiled and looked at the bottle-blonde locks hanging over her shoulder. "Alright, braid away," she said with a smile.

The younger girl led her to a chair, offering Rose a small goblet with a dark red liquid inside. She wasn't certain what it was, sniffing delicately at it before bringing the edge of the cup to her lips as each of the alien women picked up a comb. Taking only a small sip, Rose let the drink sit on her tongue as she evaluated it and finally smiled. It was strange and very smooth, but it tasted quite a bit like peppermint drinking chocolate with just a hint of almond. Closing her eyes as she sipped at the drink, Rose felt herself giving into the pleasure of the women combing her hair as they carefully removed any tangles.

Neither woman spoke to Rose as they focused on her hair, their minds keen on the blessings they were folding into each braid. The combs were dipped into an infusion of herbs and oils before being brought to her hair, the coated teeth drawing through strands of blonde before each fold was made. She felt peaceful, Rose thought as her mind took her back to that morning. The feel of these women attending to her hair reminded her of waking up in The Doctor's arms, his hand stroking down over her hair as though he meant to guide her gently from her land of dreams and into the conscious world. It still amazed her that he could be so spontaneous and energetic while being so patient and calm with her.

"Thank you," the girl said as she and her mother finished with Rose's hair. "The braids will come out on their own after time; we only ask that you leave them in until they fall out naturally."

"Of course," Rose smiled as she looked into the mirror, her hair still lying flat except for the two thin braids on either side and two in the back that lay neatly folded on top of her hair. "The drink was wonderful," Rose said as she turned to them both and watched as both women seemed to stand taller with pride and delight at her words.

"Come," the younger woman said as she handed Rose her bag and led her from the tent. "You have a garden on your ship, I could see it in your thoughts."

"I just barely discovered that," Rose said with a bemused smile. It was strange to be around telepaths, but she didn't feel threatened or upset by them. She had grown used to the TARDIS being with her in the back of her mind, she supposed. "The oil, can I…"

"Use it on her?" the girl asked, a teasing grin and nod of her head referring to Rose's ship. "Yes. It is made for living skin, a person's or a living ship's, like yours is. I wasn't prepared to hear her voice; it is quite an amazing place you live."

"You can hear her?" Rose asked, her eyes wide with wonder. "What does she sound like?"

"Happy," the woman told her with a smile. "She sounds happy. Most sentient ships that have come to this world simply sound old or tired. She's the first I've heard that sounds happy."

"The others don't?" Rose asked with a frown.

"Most sentient ships are treated as smart tools to be used and commanded," the girl told her as she led her into another tent filled from top to bottom with plants and cuttings. "They are not treated as truly living, but yours is. You and your Doctor treat her as a friend, a companion. From what I have seen and heard from her, she would fight and give her last breath to protect you both. Other sentient vessels have no such desires."

"She can feel?" Rose asked as she reached for the connection she had with the TARDIS, wanting to feel her as more than just a nudge.

"Very much so. Sentient ships," the girl told her, "they do not simply think or respond. They are alive. They feel, they mourn and rejoice and live just as any other creature does. Most think them as being less simply because their voice cannot always be heard by everyone."

Rose stopped walking as she looked at a small plant that was set in the edge of the cloth window, a high shelf holding it up to the sunlight. The way it was bent over, the dark green stalk curving downward to the soil it stood in, made Rose think it looked sad. Each world had something new, each place and person she met different than the last. These plants could be like Jade, living creatures that would grow into someone she could someday talk with. She didn't give any consideration to the thought that the plant could be dangerous and lifted her hand to touch one dark green leaf.

She wasn't certain at first if the plant was responding to her or simply too far gone to help when it leaned into her touch. Her lips parted in wonder, her chocolate eyes watching as the plant changed color, the dark and sickly green turning to something brighter and warmer. The large bulb at the top of the plant moved on its own, and Rose laughed as it seemed to rub against her fingers like a cat seeking attention.

"Hello," she greeted the plant with amusement and wonder. "Well, aren't you beautiful," she said as the bulb opened, the flower blossoming before her eyes.

The petals were soft and beautiful, the flower bending and rubbing against her skin. It was strange, Rose thought, strange and beautiful just like The Doctor. The blossom was full and large, the petals and form of the flower looking to be a perfect combination of a peony and a spider mum. Jumping when a hand clapped down on her shoulder, she looked back at the man staring at her before returning her attention to the flower that had once more folded in on itself, the brilliance of its color lost as it bent in sorrow. She turned back to the man only to find him staring at her still, the look in his eyes both confused and in some manner annoyed.

"Most of the older generation on this planet never learned to speak out loud. It's only been within the past two hundred years that we've had visitors from other planets, but most have all been telepathic," the young woman explained to Rose and met the shop keeper's gaze when he turned his attention on her. "The drink I gave you in our shop is made from a plant here, it's a tea made from the fruit, leaves and roots of the plant."

Rose nodded to her before turning her gaze back on the man who still had a grip on her shoulder. "Have I upset you?" she asked as she tried to understand his expression.

He met her gaze before turning his eyes to the plant she had been touching in the window. He nodded to the flower, looking back at the girl behind him and nodding when she told Rose to touch the flower again. Frowning in a bit of confusion, Rose turned and lifted her hand, smiling as the flower responded immediately to her touch. The color changed back to the warm emerald, the bulb at the top opening into a wide blossom and she laughed softly at the way the petals tickled against her skin.

"That flower hasn't opened or responded to anyone in almost five years," the young woman told Rose, translating for the telepathic shop keeper. "He wants to know if you would be willing to take the flower with you."

"Oh," Rose nodded and she looked back at the flower, the petals still rubbing against her fingers.

"Of all places I find you makin' friendly with a flower shop."

Rose turned at the sound of The Doctor's voice, her brow lifting in a teasing arch as she looked back at the flower. He rolled his blue eyes affectionately as he stepped closer and looked at the flower she was touching. It didn't take him long to understand the situation and with a sentient flower responding so openly and happily to Rose, he saw no point in saying no. The flower itself was harmless enough, and he told her that its name translating roughly to companion flower.

"Just so long as you don't go domesticating the place," he told Rose and watched as she laughed, her wide smile drawing a grin from him. "Did you buy enough things then?"

"Look who's talking," she shot back, nodding to the bag in his hand.

"Oi! This stuff's all necessary," he argued with her, his expression one of humor. "It's for the TARDIS."

"Mmhmm," she teased him and laughed before turning her attention back to the alien woman and the shop keeper. "Sorry, yes. I'll take this one, too."

"Too?" The Doctor asked. "What else are you getting here?"

"TARDIS has a garden, you know," she told him, meeting his grin with a smile.

"So it does," he nodded. "What're you putting in it?"

"Tea!" Rose told him with a wide smile. "The most delicious chocolate tea."

"Chocolate tea?" he asked her with a discerning frown. "What do you mean 'chocolate tea'?"

"Exactly what I said," she told him with a shake of her head, her expression making it clear she thought he was a bit thick for having asked. "Certainly you've had chocolate tea before, Doctor?"

"Would you like to try some?" the alien woman asked him as she handed him a small cup for sampling.

He took the cup from her with a grin, bringing it to his lips and sniffing at it first. There was something strange and familiar about the scent, something hidden that he could only barely remember. Tipping the cup, he drank the small portion down, his tongue identifying the tea and its uses immediately. His eyes widened for a slight moment before he handed the small porcelain cup back and looked at Rose. He tried to distract her, doing his best to usher her from the shop, but she deflected him.

"Stop it, now you're just being rude," she told him and shook her head. "I don't know what's gotten into him," she told the aliens by way of apology and watched the girl smile.

"It's the tea," the girl told him with a smile. "It has a stronger affect on the males. Here, to buy this plant," she handed Rose the large bowl holding three fledgling plants that reminded her of vanilla beans, "he asks that you take this flower with you. It is what is best for it."

"Thank you," Rose said, smiling at the girl before offering a smile to the man. "You can hold that one," she told The Doctor as she handed him the plant used for making the tea."

He didn't say anything as he led her back to the TARDIS, his mind focused on trying to distract her from ever cultivating the plant he held into the tea she had been given earlier. He wasn't certain exactly what had been said between Rose and the aliens before he had arrived or how they had gotten the impression that she would need the tea, but he didn't think he could let her have it. There was no harm in the drink, he reminded himself, it wouldn't make her ill or anything. But how would he possibly be able to handle her if she drank it on a regular occasion?

The alien woman smiled softly as she watched the strange couple walk back through the marketplace. The girl, she knew, thought of the ship they traveled in as more than just a vessel. She thought of the TARDIS with an almost familial relation, something like that of a friend or perhaps something more. The man with her thought of the ship in much the same way and she smiled as she felt the TARDIS' joy for having her travelers return. All of the things the girl had now would prepare her for the future and she wondered how long it would be before Rose was ready. The love was there now, how long until her body was ready for something her heart already wanted?

"What is with you?" Rose asked The Doctor as they stepped onto the TARDIS, his frown ever present as he looked down at the plant he carried. "It's just tea."

"It's more than just tea, Rose," he told her as he led her back through the hall and to the garden.

"Will it hurt me?" Rose asked as she felt a nudge in the back of her mind and set her bag down only to watch it disappear. "Did the TARDIS do that?" she asked The Doctor and watched him nod.

"Moved it to your room for you," he told her. "She does that all the time with the stuff I bring back." He grew silent as he looked at Rose, her expression making it clear that she was still waiting for an answer. "It won't hurt you. Just…just don't drink more than one cup a week, alright?" he told her and watched her take in a deep breath as she stared at him.

"Fair enough," Rose acquiesced and watched as he set the plant under the artificial sun. "Think this one will be ok in my room?" she asked him, looking down at the companion flower she held.

"Don't see why it wouldn't be," he told her and watched her walk out of the garden.

He had no idea how to tell her about the tea and let his head fall back as he stared at the artificial sky inside the TARDIS. No, the drink wouldn't harm her and it couldn't poison her by having too much. In fact, that particular tea was meant to be had at least once a day. The problem was, he thought as he released a heavy sigh, that tea was meant to be had by both a man and a woman together. It would increase the woman's fertility and increase the man's libido and sperm count. He had no idea how he would be able to be around Rose if she drank that tea on a regular basis. It would make her scent more attractive than it already was to him.

Rubbing his hand over his face as he stepped out of the gardens, he found Rose standing in the hall waiting for him, her lips turned up in a smile. Her delight was infectious, his worries forgotten as he smiled in return and led her toward the console room. Talking with her as he told her what controls to move and how to move them, he laughed with delight as the TARDIS' engines began to sound and the ship took flight.

"A visit home," he told her and watched her laugh.

**:::::**

He smiled as he watched her wave her hand, warning him not to disappear. There wasn't a possibility that he could disappear on her now in the way that she implied, not even if he wanted to. It would be safer for her if he simply left her here, he thought as he watched her run through the alley they'd landed in and over to the Estates. He couldn't do it though; he thought as he crossed his arms and looked down. He couldn't leave without her, not unless she told him to go. She was too much a part of him now, too much a part of his ship. He had reclaimed the jumper she'd worn at the marketplace, his clothing now smelling like her and knew that there was no going back.

A Time Lord's sense of smell and taste was so much more sensitive than a human's. They could use their senses to track someone else, identify a substance or even diagnose an illness if they wanted to, but that morning before she'd woken; his senses had been tied up in the jumper that had reappeared in his room. She'd gone to sleep that night in her room and, after setting the TARDIS to return them to her world, he had stepped into his bedroom to see the jumper lying at the foot of his bed. It was still warm from her body heat and the smell of her was drenched in the fabric. The worst part had been the way their scents had mixed though, his scent and hers becoming something new and so perfectly matched that it was almost a perfume.

He looked around as he leaned against the TARDIS, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face as he breathed in the air. The alley certainly didn't smell clean, but that was fine he thought as he looked down and thought himself mad for his growing feelings. She was human, he told himself as he stepped away from the TARDIS and walked a few paces to kick the crumpled bottle in the middle of the brick square. He looked up when the flash of black and white caught his attention, finding a paper flyer attached to a utility pole a few feet in front of him. Something about the shadows and lines looked familiar, his enhanced vision stilling him for only a fraction of a second before both of his hearts began to race.

The Doctor stepped quickly over to the pole, his hand moving out immediately to fold the flyer back as he studied it. It was Rose's face plastered on the weather beaten paper, large red letters across the top asking if anyone had seen her. He studied the page with wide eyes as he read the date on it and realized what had happened. The TARDIS hadn't taken them back to her home with only twelve hours having passed. It had been twelve months instead. He turned on his heel as he ran from the pole, desperate to get to Rose before something happened and make certain that she was alright. She'd never forgive him for this.

**:::::**

She knew what her mother was thinking, even if she spoke Mickey's name and blamed him instead, Rose knew what she was truly thinking. She felt the tears prick her eyes as she stood with her mother in the kitchen, the door closed to give them at least the feel of privacy. Twelve months, Rose thought as her lips pulled and trembled with her effort to fight away the tears. She knew what her mother had truly thought and that was what frightened her the most, Rose thought. What if her mother really did think that The Doctor was another Jimmy Stone?

The Doctor wouldn't hurt her, she knew that with the same certainty that she knew she had never truly loved Mickey in a romantic way. He was familiar and comfortable and safe, but she had never actually been in love with him. She sniffled as she looked up and brushed away a tear. He wasn't a bad man; Rose promised her mother as she met her gaze and brushed Jackie's hair back over one shoulder. The Doctor kept her safe, he protected her. It was just a glitch a tiny little glitch where twelve hours had been translated into twelve months.

The problem was, she couldn't tell her mother that. She couldn't tell her that they had been traveling in a time machine or that she had gone to the end of the earth and seen aliens. Her mother wouldn't believe it and would more than likely try to have her committed. The tears gathered in her eyes as her mother touched her cheek and asked her what could possibly be so bad that she couldn't talk about it. She had asked her that same question months after she had tried to get Rose into therapy to help her heal from Jimmy. But her time with The Doctor hadn't been bad, a bit frightening at times, but never bad.

What could she possibly say to her to make her understand? Rose shook her head, sniffling again as she told her that she needed some time to herself. She didn't wait for Jackie to answer before she slipped passed her and out the door. Rose never noticed that The Doctor had slipped out after her, following her up the stairs and to the roof of the Estate. He had seen the tears in her eyes when she had walked out of the flat, but had respected her earlier request not to listen in. He couldn't anyway even if he had wanted to, given the commotion of the room. The policeman had finally left, but only just moments before Rose had walked out of the kitchen.

He watched her climb onto the higher platform of the roof, the part where a few of the old style television antennas and a few clothes lines were and waited for her to say something, but she remained quiet instead. He only worried when she grew quiet. Rose wasn't a quiet person; even after only a few days spent traveling with her he already knew that. The toe of his shoe caught a loose pebble, the sound of it clattering away breaking the cover of his silent steps and he watched her look up at him. She met his gaze, her eyes beginning to sparkle with humor before she laughed quietly and shook her head.

"Twelve months," she said, her words an invitation and he stepped closer.

"I'd have fixed it before we landed if I'd noticed," he told her as he leaned against the wall to the left side of her.

Pulling her legs up from where they were dangling over the edge, she hugged her knees to her chest as she crossed her ankles, the position casual and relaxed. Turning her eyes up to the sky, she studied the clouds above them and felt the peacefulness his presence brought her drive away the anxiety and turmoil of the past few hours. Closing her eyes as she took in a deep breath, she couldn't help the silent wish she had to spend her forever traveling with The Doctor. He made her feel important. He made her feel real and needed and…and whole.

"I can't tell her," she said after a moment, looking off to her right and shaking her head as she thought aloud. "I can't even begin. She's never going to forgive me. And I missed a year," she turned her attention back on The Doctor. "Was it good?"

"Middling," he deflected as she rested her elbows on the tops of her knees and relaxed further.

"You're so useless," she teased him.

"Well if it's this much trouble are you going to stay here then?" he asked her, squinting his eyes against the sunlight and hoping she would say no.

"I don't know," Rose said as she looked at him and studied the red undertones she could see in his dark hair, the sun lighting them before hiding behind the clouds. "I can't do that to her again though."

"Well, she's not coming with us," he said and listened to Rose laugh.

"No joke," she told him, still laughing as she tried to imagine Jackie Tyler traveling in the TARDIS and met his smile.

"I don't do families," he told her seriously and watched her smile widen.

"She slapped you," Rose said with a wide smile as she looked at him.

"Nine hundred years of time and space and I've never been slapped by someone's mother," he said sounding truly offended.

"Your face," Rose teased him.

"It hurt!" he told her and rubbed his cheek.

"So gay!" she told him, her smile widening as she tipped her head back and he watched as her hair danced in the breeze. "When you say nine hundred years?" she asked the question without finishing it.

"That's my age," he told her seriously and waited for her reaction.

"You're nine hundred years old?" Rose asked him wondering how he could look so young.

"Yeah," he nodded and watched her turn away from him, returning his attention to the city in front of them.

"My mum was right," Rose nodded and he glanced back at her. "That is one hell of an age gap," she said hopping off her perch and walked to the edge of the roof they were standing on. "Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all the stuff up there. The size of it and I can't say a word. Aliens and space ships and things. And I'm the only one on planet earth who knows they exist."

Rose fell silent at the sound screaming from behind them, a kind of buzzing horn that reminded her of sixteen wheelers on the road. She had finally lost it, she thought as she ducked and watched the spaceship fly overhead, black smoke billowing out from the engines in back. It looked like it was crashing and she had no doubt that it would. She and The Doctor turned at the same time, watching the ship fly through the city in a manner that seemed more like a well choreographed fall. They heard the banging as it crashed through Big Ben and Rose shook her head as she finally stood from the crouch she had been in.

"Oh, that's not fair."

**:::::**

Realization came to him with the cold fingers of fear gripping his twin hearts in vice-like claws. The moment he understood that it was a trap, the moment he realized that he and all of the other so-called alien experts had been lured to Ten Downing Street so that the invading aliens could do away with them, he felt as though he'd been frozen inside. His fury came piggy-backed on the fear, his rage boiling beneath the surface, but hidden beneath layers of wit and arrogance. Rose was in danger and if he was trapped in this room than he wouldn't be able to get to her. Not without a fight, he reasoned and he steeled himself against the desire to run from the room without first ensuring of anyone else's safety.

He knew Rose was a fighter, knew that she would be ok until he could make it to her. She had to be, he thought and if there was one thing he believed in, it was Rose Tyler. He turned around as he faced those standing in the front, the councilman and military officer who had been doing nothing but farting and making snide comments when he spoke. They were the aliens. They were the ones who wanted the experts dead and The Doctor knew without a doubt that he would stop at nothing to get to Rose. They didn't know the kind of beast they had awakened in separating him from his companion. Putting Rose Tyler in danger, he thought, that was as foolhardy as one could get.

There was a reason that other alien races knew of him, knew of "The Doctor" and the legend of The Oncoming Storm as the Daleks called him. He wasn't one to be trifled with and he certainly wasn't one to be underestimated. He could feel the individual twitching of his muscles, the hormones and chemicals running through his blood as his body prepared for the fight that his mind had already calculated. If a stretched out piece of skin and all her trickery and betrayal hadn't been able to stop him from protecting Rose, what made these strangers think that they'd be any more successful?

_Never mess with a Time Lord's lady,_ he thought without ever realizing the significance of it.

The moment that the one alien dressed as the military man had revealed itself, The Doctor had known that he wouldn't rest until each one of them had been stopped. They weren't simply disguised as humans, no. They had killed humans and taken their skins to wear as disguises like costumes on Halloween. He hated the loss of life, hated the loss of innocents more, and ground his teeth together as the one still dressed as a councilman held up a remote in his hand. The pain of the electricity was unbearable. The light and energy wrapping around him interfering with the natural rhythm of his hearts and making his skin feel as though it were burning.

It took all of his control not to scream and yell as some of the humans around him were doing. If this was what was happening to Rose, he thought as he fought against the pain and fear, than there wasn't a damned thing on this planet that could stand between him and those hurting her. There would be hell to pay, he swore quietly. No matter how much he delighted in seeing history as it happened and no matter how much excitement he may have felt for the mystery of the spaceship, these aliens had put Rose in danger and that was crossing a line. Not just a line, his mind screamed at him, _the line_ – the only one there was.

**:::::**

She backed away quickly from the body that fell out of the closet and crumpled to the floor at her feet. It had been one thing to see the dead bodies at Mr. Sneed's mortuary, bit this man hadn't died naturally nor was he being laid to rest. He had been stuffed in a closet and left to stay there as aliens invaded the Parliament. She looked up with wide eyes when the man who had come into the meeting room told her and Harriet Jones that the dead man was the Prime Minister. If the aliens had killed the Prime Minister then who else had been killed?

The short stout woman walked into the office, her arrogance and cheerfulness frightening. Rose didn't know what to think, didn't even know what to do as she watched the woman reach up and pull a zipper across her forehead. A zipper? She stood frozen, watching as the alien emerged from the suit of human flesh and felt her stomach turn. From what she had seen and all that Harriet had told her, this was more than just a costume the alien was wearing. The skin and clothing had one belonged to an actual and living human. She couldn't imagine killing someone and wearing their skins like that.

She had to keep her wits about her until The Doctor made it back to them and she knew he would. He had to, she told herself. The Doctor was the only one who could possibly save them, save the planet, and she wouldn't let him down. She was becoming used to the danger, used to running and fighting, and somehow what had started as fear turned into excitement instead. This was another adventure, she told herself and fisted her hands as she gained control over her emotions and began to think of ways to escape. This was her life now and it was a damned good life to have. It wasn't just about her anymore; it was about him, about being with him and fighting alongside him and making a difference.

_I'll make you proud of me, Doctor,_ she thought as she stared at the alien and waited for the attack.


	5. Chapter 4 - World War Three

Finding His Reason

Chapter 4 – World War Three

It was rage that gave him power, worry that drove his actions, and pure stubborn-headed pride that made him rise from the floor with the ID tag burning in his hand. He wasn't human, and while the electricity hurt him like it would anyone else, it wouldn't kill him. He watched the aliens' eyes widen as he stepped forward with difficulty and press the sparking ID tag in his hand to the device around the revealed alien's neck. It took him only seconds to catch his breath before he turned and left the room, forcing his anger down and masking it behind his wit and love for adventure.

What had seemed like a perfect plan at the time turned out not so perfect as the aliens were both once more disguised as humans. It wasn't the first time he'd had guns pointed at him or people shouting for his execution, but as always, he outsmarted those chasing him. If ever you're in danger, he thought as he rode up in the steel box, always make those chasing you back you up against the lift. There was an alien standing outside the lift when the doors opened, its form revealed, but he had been given a glimpse of Rose and she was alright.

It didn't take him long to find her again, the screaming drawing him to the room she was hiding in and he grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall before throwing open the door. Some part of him was proud, amused even, to find that Rose wasn't the one who was doing the yelling. He had known she wasn't from the sound of the voice, but the sight of her defiance even as she stood terrified made him proud. She didn't need rescuing, not his Rose; she just needed someone to give her an opening. He watched her run toward him and followed her out of the room before taking the lead and running down the hall.

She was scared. There was no denying that fact, but she was also calm. She watched him, her eyes following the way his leather jacket moved across his shoulders, his muscles rippling beneath his clothing. He wasn't overly sculpted. He didn't have the hardened muscle tone that so many people looked for, but he was beautiful and he was strong. She followed behind him, dashing into the cabinet room and glancing at Harriet Jones before returning her eyes to him.

He was standing up as he always did. No matter the danger they were in, no matter how much those creatures – those aliens – wanted to kill them, The Doctor was standing up to them and defending her. As much as she wanted to stand beside him right then, she knew that he wouldn't let her. This wasn't him talking to the aliens; this was him protecting her as he always did. He felt different when he was protecting her; the energy he gave off was darker and stronger. Closing her eyes as she blinked, she breathed in and realized that he smelled different too.

The hint of summer storms that she always smelled on him was stronger now. There was a touch of something that made her want to step closer and take in a deeper breath of him, but now wasn't the time. He smelled like lightning to her, the crackle of heat that she was certain came from the anger he refused to show. The scent drew her in, made her forget her fear as all her senses became focused on him. She turned her eyes to Harriet Jones, in some manner believing the woman daft for not realizing that The Doctor wasn't human. He may look human, but everything about him that drew her in wasn't and she found herself amused when he told Harriet to hush.

He looked to her as he watched her move about the room, his assurance that they were safe falling flat when he realized that they were also trapped. She gathered the small glasses from the shelf, pouring the alcohol into each before handing one to him and another to Harriet. He waited for her to speak, waited to see the fear return to her eyes, but when she met his gaze all he saw was her trust and belief in him. They could die in this small room, he thought, but still she trusted him. He went to her side, holding her gaze until he was standing next to her and it was there in her eyes. Whether they made it out alive or not, she was trusting him to save the world.

Her lips moved, one corner tipping up before her slow grin spread into a familiar wide smile. He met her smile with one of his own before turning to Harriet and listening to her as she talked. Rose closed her eyes as she turned and walked away from where she had been standing, pushing into the distant tingle at the back of her mind. She had noticed it once before, when she and Harriet had been hiding before The Doctor came. It was the same feeling that had barely been there, but was just strong enough to tell her that she wasn't alone.

"The TARDIS," she whispered to herself and smiled before joining the others as they talked.

**:::::**

_Rose, protect him. You know what to do._

The voice that whispered inside her mind sounded almost like hers, but softer and maybe just a touch older and a bit wiser. There was no way out, no chance to escape the room or even the building before the missile hit, but she refused to stand around and wait for it to come. Drafting Harriet's aid, she moved into the small cupboard in the corner of the room and cleared it out as quickly as she could while being careful not to mess up the order of the papers and items too badly when she set them on the floor outside. They would most likely be destroyed anyway, she knew that, but still she couldn't simply throw them about like so much trash.

The Doctor followed them inside, her mobile in his hand and closed the door of the cupboard as he sat on the floor. Harriet moved to one side while Rose moved to his other and she smiled even as terror filled her heart. She closed her eyes as she gripped his hand tightly and pressed against him when the building began to shake. If they survived she knew that she could never tell him the truth she held in her heart. Her mother had called her a kid and he had agreed, it had been in that moment that she had known that she could never tell him.

_I love you_, she whispered in her thoughts as the room was overturned and she was tossed about. His arms wrapped around her as they tumbled and just when she was certain that she would be thrown into the wrap-around shelf behind them, he took the hit instead. She met his gaze when they landed on the ceiling turned floor, her body tucked underneath his and brought her hands to his face, worried that he'd been hurt. He met her gaze with a teasing smile and she released a breath she hadn't known she was holding as she stared at him in relief.

"Tougher than that," he told her softly as he winked and rolled off of her. "It looks like we've stopped moving," he said with a smile and jumped to his feet.

"Well that wasn't so bad," Harriet said as she took his offered hand and moved to stand on shaking legs.

"Kind of like a roller coaster," Rose said with a laugh as The Doctor pushed open the cupboard door and stepped out first into the cabinet room. "The table's still in place," she said with a confused frown.

"It was bolted into the floor last month," Harriet told her as she stepped out of the cupboard behind her. "Mr. Copley kept moving it every time he sat down. Strange to see it above us."

Rose watched as The Doctor moved toward the main door of the cabinet room, his sonic screwdriver in hand. She could have died in this room and she knew then that it wouldn't have mattered to her if she had; she never wanted to be anywhere else. There was some part of her that felt a small spark an almost rush of excitement with The Doctor lifted his leg and kicked the steel door open. He never backed down, not even when the odds seemed impossibly stacked against him. Maybe it was something unique to Time Lords, but she was certain that it was something that was truly and uniquely him. She met his gaze with a smile when he turned his head around to look for her and she was certain that she saw relief in his gaze.

He led her out the steel box, following after Harriet and watching her walk away after a few parting words were spoken. She would be important to Great Brittan, important to the world even and he wondered how long it would be before she was elected into office. There was no Prime Minister anymore, no parliament either. All the officials, or at least most of them were dead and new ones would be needed soon. He looked back at Rose, a smile bending his lips when she slipped her hand into his and he laughed at the sheer folly of all that had happened. How many of his other companions had left him when the true danger of traveling with him had been revealed? Rose…He squeezed her hand as he met her smiling face. Rose stayed with him and even if she was afraid, she continually refused to let him fight alone.

"I'm going to go see my mum," Rose told him as they neared The Estate.

"You were brilliant today," he told her and watched as her grin widened into a full tongue in teeth smile.

"Course I was," she teased him with a laugh. "The Slitheen have got nothing on the Gelf."

He laughed when she winked at him and stepped inside the TARDIS before she moved away. She had been scared today, she admitted to herself, but she wasn't afraid once he was with her. What was it her mother had told her when she was just a kid; she wondered and nodded to herself as she ran up the stairs. Ah yes, the one you're meant to be with, they'll be the one to take your fear away. She opened the door of her flat, looking in and closing it before moving toward the kitchen as her mother came out. She hugged Jackie tightly, glad to see that her mother was alright and unharmed. There wasn't even a bruise on her.

She listened to her talk as she sat in one of the overstuffed arm chairs, feeling at once both energized and terribly exhausted. Lifting her hand with the intention of covering up a burgeoning yawn, Rose found herself trying not to laugh instead as her mother offered to make dinner for The Doctor. She knew the trials of her mother's cooking and if there was anything that could harm The Doctor it was most assuredly that. She teased Jackie, laughing when her mother gave her a jesting threat of a slap and shook her head as the woman stood and moved to the kitchen.

Au Pair, Rose thought with humor. When had she ever had the patience for something like that? She was good with children yes, but for the most part she couldn't handle them for too long at one time. Frowning at her mobile as she answered the call and lifted it to her ear, she felt a sensation of warmth wash through her when his voice came over the line. She teased him and talked with him, but in the end there was no choice to be made and she stood from the chair as she tucked the silent device into her pocket. She wouldn't leave him and she damn sure wouldn't let him leave without her. He was too much a part of her life now. His scent and the sound of his voice, the feel of his presence when he walked into a room, every bit of it was as vital to her now as the air she breathed.

"Please don't go, Sweetheart."

She understood her mother's fears, but there was nothing left for her here. The Doctor was everything to her now. She knew that if she lost her mother and Mickey tomorrow she would be sad, yes; but if she were to lose The Doctor she would be left broken. Forcing the last of her clothes into the red and black duffle bag, she knew that if her mother were to look she would find her closet and dresser empty. This wasn't her home anymore. Home was a blue box. Home was…home was a pair of blue eyes and northern accent.

Rose didn't blame her mother one bit for following her out of the apartment. She knew this wouldn't be easy, but she needed to understand that this was better than anything else she could ever find on Earth. She was safe with The Doctor. No matter the danger they found themselves in he always kept her safe. Tossing her bag to The Doctor and watching as he looked at her in a mix of surprise and defiance, she teased him that he couldn't get rid of her. Her eyes turned to Mickey, her invitation for him to join them shot down by The Doctor, but not before she caught the look Mickey cast at him. She turned to her mother then as the woman seemed to be hell bent on giving The Doctor her own form of the third-degree and turned her around as The Doctor slipped inside the TARDIS.

She did her best to comfort her mother, at one moment feeling as though she were the adult in the relationship and wondering how it was that she had always seemed to be taking care of her mother. There wasn't much more that she could say, her goodbyes having already been made, and pushed open the door of the TARDIS before stepping inside. The Doctor was at the controls on the console, her bag sitting abandoned on the jump seat, and Rose looked around as the familiar comfort of the TARDIS washed over her in warmth and light.

"All ready to go then?" The Doctor asked her as he looked back at her over his shoulder. "You're not wanting to change your mind then, are you?" he asked her when she failed to move and watched as she met his gaze with confusion. "Rose?"

"Hm?" She hummed the question as she moved further up the ramp and felt her steps falter for only a second before his arms were around her. "Guess I'm more tired than I thought," she offered with a half laugh and felt him press his hand against her brow. "I'm fine," she stressed the words with a laugh.

"You're certain?" he asked her with concern and looked down when she dropped her forehead to his chest and laughed.

"I'm fine, Mother Hen." She teased him and moved around him further into the console room. "You should find us a nice little vacation planet. I think we deserve the rest."

"Demanding," he teased her back as he moved to the controls. "And what kind of vacation would you be looking for then?"

"Something with a beach," she answered as she moved her bag to the floor and sat down on the jump seat. "Maybe…no," she shook her head with a roll of her eyes and a grin.

"What?" he asked, prodding for more.

"Well, I don't suppose you know any planets with purple sand do you?" she asked. "Just thought it'd be neat."

He met her gaze quietly, his expression unreadable for only a moment before he gave her his familiar wide smile and listened to her laugh. Turning back to the controls as he began to tell her of the world with purple sands and orange waters, he fell silent when he looked back to find her asleep in the jump seat. Shaking his head as he directed the TARDIS into the plasma storm he had told her about, he knew that he wouldn't be able to show her how truly beautiful the energy was. He could always wake her and he knew that if he did she wouldn't be mad, but she had nearly collapsed once there was no one left who needed her to fake that everything was alright.

"Rose Tyler," he said as he left the console and moved to her side. "Oh, Rose," he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her gently against his side and listening to her whimper softly as she curled against him. "You should be sleeping in your bed, not trying to keep me company."

Gathering her in his arms as he stood from the jump seat, he carried Rose back through the hall and offered his thanks when the TARDIS opened the door of her room for him. Releasing one arm slowly and setting her feet down on the floor, he held her tightly to his side as he tossed back the blankets on her bed. Lifting her once more into the cradle of his arms, he laid her gently down in the bed and smiled softly when she sighed. He moved to her feet, taking off her trainers and socks, remembering how she had told him once that she hated sleeping in them.

Sitting beside her on the bed, he pulled down the zipper on her jumper, tipping her up to lean against his chest as he removed her hooded cover. There was a shirt underneath, small though it was, and he was glad for it if only because it made him more comfortable to have it there. There were very few things that he feared, but among them was Rose herself. She could break him in a way that nothing else – not even a Dalek – could. He feared her because of how much he needed her and he wondered if she felt the same.

"Rose Tyler." He spoke her name slowly, reverently as he laid her back on the pillows and kissed her brow.

"Doctor," she moaned softly in her sleep as he covered her with the blankets and stood from her bed.

He looked down on her, watching her sleep for a few moments longer before turning away and leaving her to rest. The soft rustle of leaves caught his attention and he turned back, watching as the sentient flower fluttered its petals as it stretched on its stalk. Reaching out his hand to the flower in a moment of curiosity, he gave a half smile when the flower rubbed against his fingers. He stroked the edge of the bulb, his brow furrowing when he caught the low sound of a soft trilling and realized the plant was making the noise.

"You were with a bonded pair before, weren't you?" he asked the plant and watched as the flower spread open wider, two small vines coming out from the center of it to wrap around his index finger. "Are you tasting me?" he asked as the tiny yellow strings moved up and down over his skin before retracting into the flower once more. "She'll be alright, just needs a bit of sleep is all," he told the flower when it leaned against him with its blossom turned toward the bed.

Sentient plants had no eyes, not in the same sense that people or animals did, but they could see on an almost telepathic level. They could sense how a room looked, if there were any predators about and even what someone looked like. Some sentient plants even had the ability to speak telepathically on a level that was more emotion than it was words, but he had yet to sense anything from this plant. The flower moved again and The Doctor watched as it spread its petals as far as they would go, trembling slightly before a fine gold dust was expelled from the center to rest on his skin.

"Yes, we're your new home," he told the plant as the dust was absorbed into his skin.

The dust was harmless, he knew. Barely more than a scent trace that the plant could identify them with and he wondered if Rose had been dusted on by the flower yet. He reached for the bottle of water sitting on the table next to it and uncapped it before pouring a small amount into the blue tinted soil. He set the bottle down as the flower preened before shaking his head and looking at the flower. So, it was telepathic after all, he thought with an amused snort and looked at the bed when he heard the soft rustle of movement.

"Doctor?" Rose looked at him through her lashes, her eyes barely open.

"Go back to sleep, Rose," he hushed her quietly as he lifted the blankets to cover her shoulders.

She sighed softly as he watched her lashes flutter before she settled down into the pillows and he smiled softly when she returned to sleep. Turning away from her, he walked out of her room and pulled the door closed quietly behind him. There were at least ten worlds in the direction they were going that held purple sands, one that had orange waters, another with red and yet another that had the brightest bluest waters he had ever seen. Liquid sapphires he had heard them called. He'd give her something beautiful to wake up to, something fantastic.

**:::::**

He looked up from the console as he landed the TARDIS, his eyes turning back to the hall when he heard the sound of her footsteps growing closer. Her socked feet were covered by the cuffs of her pants, her toes sticking out amusingly. His lips pulled up at the edge as he watched her walk closer, her face free of the makeup she usually applied and he found her beautiful in her natural state. Chuckling silently as he watched her run her hand clumsily through her hair, he had long since learned that it took Rose more than a bit to wake fully. She was wearing his jumper again and he shook his head as he glanced up at the TARDIS, her amusement coming through clearly.

_I don't know what you're playin' at, Old Girl,_ he directed his thoughts to the ship.

"_It brings her comfort,"_ the TARDIS responded as The Doctor turned his attention back to Rose and held out his hand as she came near.

"Still tired?" he asked her in a joking manner, chuckling when she lightly slapped his arm as he wrapped her in a hug. "I've got a surprise for you, Rose Tyler," he told her and looked down when he realized she was growing heavier against him. "But you're gonna have to wake up to see it."

"Oh, fine then," she groused teasingly and smiled when he laughed at her. "You're making the tea, though."

"Of course, I am," he told her with a brilliant smile as they both turned and walked back into the hall. "I've seen what you do to it."

"Oi! I'm not that bad," she fired back as he laughed. "That chocolate tea turns out just fine, thank you," she said with a sniff before giving him a wide smile. "One of these days you'll have a cuppa with me."

"Your chocolate tea isn't exactly my flavor," he told her, rolling his eyes to himself at the inaccuracy of it. She'd forever think of it as 'chocolate' tea because that was how it tasted to her, but it wasn't chocolate at all. "You're not wanting that, are you?" he asked and smiled when she yawned and stretched her arms above her head.

"If you don't mind," she said and rubbed her face. "Mm, I'd better go make myself presentable if we're going out," she told him before disappearing into her bedroom.

_Rose Tyler, you could wear a burlap sack and you'd be perfectly presentable to me,_ The Doctor thought as he stared at her closed door. Turning away with a shake of his head, he walked down the hall to the gardens and stepped inside, breathing in the warm fragrant air with a contented sigh. There were times that he would simply lie under the artificial sky and bask in the sun with the plush grass beneath him and the plants and flowers surrounding him. He stood with his eyes closed and his face turned up to the light as he let the warmth and comfort of the gardens wash over him.

Breathing in deeply and releasing the air slowly, he opened his eyes and stepped further into the grass covered hill that stretched far and wide inside his ship. Of all the places he had shown Rose inside the TARDIS, this was the one she had found on her own and the one that had seemed to impress her the most. Walking toward the Beldorian rose tree that stood as cover for Rose's tea plants, he was unprepared to see that the three plants had multiplied into ten. They surrounded the tree in a full circle and while he knew that they were no danger to the tree, he also hadn't been expecting them to replicate as they had.

"Did you know they'd grown like this?" he asked Rose when she stepped into the garden behind him.

"A bit fast for what I'm used to, but yeah," she answered him, "figured they were like strawberry plants. You put one in the ground and soon enough you've got a whole row of them. Came to see what was taking you so long," she told him as she stepped around him with her flower in hand. "And I thought he could use a pit of the sun."

"You're so certain your flower's a he?" The Doctor asked her with an arch of his brow.

"There's more shades of blue, red, and darker purples in his petals, so yeah. Seems more of a masculine flower to me," she told him with a grin. "Somehow, I always seem to wake up with him tucked in my arm, but there's never any mess left behind from the soil."

"It's the pot it's planted in," he told her as he held his hand out for the flower. "You see the tiny lines here and the way the pot feels like it's made of something braided?" he asked her and watched as she ran her fingertips over the outside. "You could say it's a natural container. The pot itself is actually made from the roots of the plant that have grown up over the outside and leaves and petals that it's discarded over time. The 'pot' could take any form the plant wants, even legs if it was so inclined."

"Really?" Rose asked him with a disbelieving tilt of her head, her brow furrowed in curiosity.

"After all you've seen and this," he nodded to the plant, "is hard for you to believe?"

"So, he's like Jade then?" she asked him and watched his eyes darken with sorrow at the memory of the forest-born alien.

"A bit, but not so much," he said and smiled sadly when Rose placed her hand on his arm, covering her fingers with his own. "This flower would be for her people what a cat is to yours," he offered the comparison and looked down at the flower, watching it preen and stretch into Rose's touch when she lifted her hand to it. "Pet it a lot then, do you?" he teased her and laughed when she offered him a teasing narrow of her eyes.

"He seems to enjoy it. Sometimes, I think he sings to me at night, but I must be going mad," she said as she ran the tips of her fingers over the softball-sized bulb, tickling underneath it until the flower opened wide and stretched its blossom as far across as it could.

"You're not going mad, not yet," he teased her as he watched the flower respond to Rose easily, the feel of its happiness infusing him. "Sentient flowers can sing, they just usually don't."

"He does that a lot, too," she laughed when two thin yellow vines came out from the center of the blossom and stroked gently over The Doctor's chin, the movement as graceful as ribbons in the breeze.

"Rose Tyler." He looked at her as he drew in a deep breath and shook his head. "Only you."

"What?" She looked up at him with a confused smile and laughed when he did. "I wish I could take him to show Mum or Mickey, but they would both freak out. And don't think I don't know what you did last night."

"What are you wittering on about then?" he asked her as he set the flower down in the grass and began collecting what was needed to make her tea.

"That look Mickey gave you," she told him when he looked back at her over his shoulder. "Let me guess, you invited him before I came outside and he told you no and asked you not to say anything?"

"How did you - ?" he half-asked and stared at her with furrowed brows.

She took in a deep breath and released a heavy, half-amused sigh. "Because I know Mickey," she answered him. "He's never been very brave and as much as he likes to act tough… It's good that he's back there to look after Mum, she needs someone to."

"You knew?" he asked her as he stood with the pieces of the plant in hand and walked with her back to the kitchen. "You knew and you didn't say anything?"

Rose shrugged as she took the tea kettle off the stove and moved around The Doctor to fill it with water from the sink as he cut the beans, leaves, and root from the plant to make it into tea for her. If there was one skill she had learned over her years, it was how to let Mickey save face when she knew that he couldn't handle something. She chuckled to herself before telling The Doctor a story from their childhood, a schoolyard bully who had chosen Mickey as his intended target. Rose had been smaller than them both at the time, but had socked the bully in the jaw when Mickey had been too afraid to even move.

"It's always been that way between Mickey and I," she told him when he made a disapproving noise. "He'd never be able to handle even half of what we have," she said and The Doctor frowned when he saw the haunted look in her eyes that she quickly hid behind a smile. "But you've still got me. Can't get rid of me now."

"S'pose I can't," he told her with a chuckle as she set the kettle on the stove and blinked when the burner turned on for her. "It's the TARDIS," he told her with a smile.

"She always knows," Rose said with a confused shake of her head. "You know I wasn't comfortable with it back on Platform One, but now…it feels strange to not have her there, that tingle in the back of my mind."

"Doesn't bother you anymore?" he asked and watched Rose shake her head as she leaned back against the counter beside him.

"No, she feels…familiar, like a friend. Doctor, back on that planet." Rose paused, frowning as she remembered what the alien woman had told her and looked up to meet his watchful gaze. "The shopkeeper, she said…she said that the TARDIS is happy, but that other ships like her aren't."

His lips turned up as he offered her a sad smile and nodded. "Lots of species over time have had sentient ships, different levels, different abilities, but very few of those species have ever been telepathic. Time Lords, Kemtonaeys, Felektraxians. I'm the only one left now. There are so many other species who have a tiny bit of telepathy, less than humans, barely measurable."

"Humans?" Rose asked him with a shake of her head.

"You lot all think you go through life disconnected, but you don't," he told her with a quiet snort. "That bond you hear talked about, between a mother and her child, friends who've known each other for a long time and can seem to read each others thoughts, stories of soul mates finding each other," he waited for her nod before he continued. "Only telepathic species have that. There was a time in human history, before science or religion, when humans didn't need speech to communicate with each other."

"But why doesn't anyone know about that?" Rose asked him and watched as his expression changed into one that she almost didn't recognize, something darker.

"A group of humans who thought they were better than everyone else rose to power. Called themselves a church, the soldiers and humble servants of a god they'd created." He looked down, his eyes darkening with the memory of a time long since gone. "Anything different from them was wiped out, any record of it destroyed. They tortured and killed, sometimes just for the pleasure of doing so, and all the while claiming that they were in the right."

"No one ever tried to stop them?" Rose asked.

"Some did, a few, but they were all destroyed in turn. You lot let them carry on." The dour expression on his face vanished seconds later as he forced the darkness back into the vault of his memories and looked up at her, meeting her concerned gaze with excitement. "Enough about that though. I told you there's a surprise waiting."

"We've still got our tea and breakfast," she reminded him with a teasing chuckle and breathed in deeply as her tea brewed. "That smells amazing," she said, the words half moaned as she took the steaming mug he offered her. "You sure you won't have any?" she asked and sipped at the dark liquid.

"No." He shook his head as he reached for the tin holding the leaves for black tea. "You make that often for yourself?" he asked her and watched her look at him over the edge of the porcelain cup she drank from.

"Mostly at night before bed or when I can't sleep. It makes me feel…I don't know exactly." She frowned as she searched for a description to offer him. "Warm isn't quite it, but it's closer than anything else."

"In the mornings?" he asked as he watched her sip the tea, breathing in deeply of its fragrant steam between swallows.

"I don't know," she said and laughed a bit. "It sounds strange, but…it's like putting on a favorite jumper. Just the feel of it is something you love, but can't really describe."

He offered her a smile as he moved passed her, grabbing a banana from the shelf and stepping toward the door of the kitchen. Making an excuse of needing to check on the TARDIS when she called after him, he continued down the hall and into the console room. He couldn't tell her that he was leaving because her scent was becoming too powerful. She wouldn't understand that and she certainly wouldn't understand that it wasn't meant as an insult. It was quite the opposite actually. Her scent was enticing and tantalizing, his senses filled with her with every breath he took. There was a moment when he had been standing next to her as she drank her tea that all he could think about was tasting it on her lips.

Why did she make it impossible for him to concentrate? He'd had plenty of companions before and a good deal of them had been female. He'd not reacted to a single one as he did to Rose. Breathing in too deeply around her had, on more than one occasion, caused a sensory overload that resulted in him having to fight down physical manifestations of his lust for her. He had tasted her skin, kissed her brow and her cheek, but he knew without a doubt that he couldn't kiss her lips. He very much doubted he'd ever be able to stop with just one kiss.

Kneeling down to the floor, he removed one of the metal grates, setting it aside before crawling inside to lie on his back beneath the console. Retrieving his sonic screwdriver from his the pocket of his leather coat, he adjusted the settings before bringing it up to the bundle of wires and relays above his head. Most of the connections were fine, but there were a few that would need replacing soon and he knew that Rose would most likely enjoy another bit of shopping. Closing his eyes as he rubbed his brow, he breathed in deeply and felt every muscle tense as his nerve endings ignited in a cascade of delicious fire. He hadn't heard her come into the console room, but her scent was all around him and he was grateful for the current distraction that allowed him to stay partially hidden from Rose.

"You look tired," Rose said with concern as she watched him work on the TARDIS.

"A bit maybe," he allowed as he reached up to the grating next to him in search of a tool. "Cycle's coming round again; I'll need to sleep in the next day or two. Hand me that will you?" he asked pointing to the angular tool that looked to be both a wrench and a set of pliers.

"Is she alright then, the TARDIS?" Rose asked him as she handed him the tool, his fingers brushing against her hand as he accepted the bit of metal from her.

"Good as can be," he said, his voice muffled around the sonic screwdriver he held between his teeth.

"That should do it," he said as he sat up and set the tool on the grating next to Rose. "I'll need to pick up a few parts for her soon, but she's fine for now. You alright?" he asked when he watched her shiver.

"Mmhmm," Rose hummed as she looked into his blue eyes, distracted for a moment before blinking and moving away to allow him room to stand.

Rose looked away from him as moved around the console, refusing to meet his gaze until she had herself under control. How could she possibly tell him that she had been distracted by him? That when she had breathed in to speak, she had become too distracted by his scent to even think beyond the desire of kissing him? She looked up from the part of the console she was studying when The Doctor asked her if she had brought a swim suit with her, her brows furrowing in question as she remained silent.

"You'd better hurry up and put it on," he told her, grinning with excitement. "The beach, Rose. I've brought us to a beach!"

She laughed at his excitement, his emotions infecting her as she smiled. She didn't say anything as she turned and jogged back into the hall, heading for her room. Closing herself inside her chambers, she looked at the bed and let her excitement fall away. She hadn't worn a swim suit in years. She didn't even own one and the reason behind it reminded her of why. Jimmy had made her feel ugly, made her completely disgusted with her own body and it was only now, with The Doctor, that she was finally feeling comfortable in her own skin again. He called to her with excitement, telling her to hurry up, and she wondered if she would be able to tell him she wasn't feeling up to a swim.

Warmth passed over her, a feeling of safety and love settling inside her like a ghost as she closed her eyes. It was the best she could do, the TARDIS thought as she looked down upon Rose. She couldn't embrace her or talk to her, but she could give her comfort. If a swimsuit was what Rose needed, then a swimsuit she would have. Rose opened her eyes slowly, her hand lifting to rub against her brow as something drew her attention to the bed. There, lying on the blanket was a two piece swimsuit in the same color blue as The Doctor's eyes. There were even designs drawn on it in the same color as the darker flecks of midnight-blue scattered on the edges of his irises.

"Thank you," Rose said as she turned her eyes to the ceiling.

She moved quickly, discarding her clothing before removing her under garments and replacing them with the bikini. Rose thought the designs looked like some of the ones she had seen scattered around the ship and on the book The Doctor had been reading. Were the designs Gallifreyan, she wondered. She forgot about them almost as quickly as they had fascinated her, The Doctor's voice calling out to her once again, and she dressed quickly. Slipping back into her trainers, she ran back through the ship, meeting him in the console room and chuckling at the sight of his excitement.

"You're going to love this, Rose Tyler," he told her with a wide smile as he took her hand and led her outside the TARDIS.

"Purple sand," Rose said with wonder as she stopped and looked at the beach beneath her feet. "Purple sand and…is that water…"

"Technically the water is red, but with the color of the sand beneath it, it looks black," he told her with a smile. "You wanted purple sands, Rose and I've brought you to a planet with purple sands as far as the eye can see. Water's perfectly safe to swim in. You can even drink it if you like."

"Drink it?" she asked with a confused laugh. "You're not supposed to drink salt water."

"That's the beauty of it, Rose! It's not salt water," he laughed as he pulled her along, running along the empty beach to where the sand met the sea. "Under the water are miles and miles of sugar cane. They harvest sugar from the sea!"

"Wait, are you sayin'?" Rose trailed off as she looked at the churning sea, following behind him as they ran. "It's _sugar_ water?"

"Yup," he told her with a wide smile and a nod. "Sugar water! Fantastic!"

"Oi! Hold on!" she shouted at him with a laugh, pulling her hand from his. "I'm not running into the water like this and what about you, Doctor? That leather coat won't do well in sugar water. Neither will those boots of yours. Or did you not bring your trunks?"

"Oh, I brought them," he told her with a laugh and watched her as she removed her jumper and trainers at the same time. "Rose, where did you get that?" he asked her as she removed her top to reveal the bikini underneath.

"A gift of the TARDIS," she told him with a laugh. "Don't you like it?" she asked and he could see the nervousness she was trying to hide.

"It's nice," he told her with a nod, turning away before he stared to long at the Gallifreyan words written on the cups of the bikini.

On the left, the geometric words surrounding her in circles and lines, was written _A Time Lord's Lady._ On the right, the names next to each other in the main circle, written as would be for a married couple, were her name and his. He turned back, his eyes widening when he found her to be dressed only in the bikini. Every nerve ending ignited, his muscles tightening as his hearts raced and hormones rose in response. He watched her as she walked toward the water, her body bared to his eyes as he stared in wonder and arousal. His tongue peaked out as he licked his dry lips, his eyes falling to her rounded bottom as he read the words written in Gallifreyan. _The Doctor and his Rose._

"Meddling old fool," he cursed the TARDIS, his eyes snapping up to meet Rose's when she looked back at him over her shoulder.

"You comin' then?"


	6. Chapter 5 - Dalek

Finding His Reason

Chapter 5 - Dalek

He looked back at the human bloke Rose had invited on board, the look in his eyes when he met her gaze, telling Rose that she would be responsible for showing him around. Adam was a fair sight prettier than he was, younger and human as well. He could build a life with Rose, and for that The Doctor found that he was both jealous and annoyed. She could do anything she wanted with Adam behind closed doors and it wasn't any of his business what they did. Had she brought Adam along because she wanted what he couldn't give her?

He watched her disappear down the hall as she led Adam deeper through the ship. Turning around once Adam was the only one he could still see, The Doctor turned back to the TARDIS as he began maneuvering the controls. If she wanted to show Adam the stars then he would give her that, he thought as he directed the TARIS into a cluster of nebulas on the far edge of the universe. This part of the universe was still growing, still expanding. New stars were being formed every moment, and he knew that Rose would love it.

The TARDIS focused her attention on Rose, watching her Time Lord's companion as she led this new human male through the halls. She looked deeper into the girl's heart, trying to understand what had made her bring this male on board only to find herself confused. Rose wasn't happy. Her emotions were in a state of turmoil, fear and anger and grief turning over each other like clothes in a wash cycle. Something had happened to both of the ones she swore to protect, her Time Lord and his companion unsettled even as they tried to appear unaffected.

"You'll need a room then," Rose told Adam as she led him through one hall and down another. "TARDIS forms the room for each person."

"This is a space ship," Adam said, and Rose felt amusement warning with annoyance.

"You going to get over that bit anytime soon?" she asked and watched him turn to her with a questioning gaze. "Fifth time you've said that," she told him with a teasing smile.

"You have to admit, this is more than a bit mad," he said and looked around. "I'm just glad you turned out to be human."

"Why's that then?" Rose asked as she waved her hand toward a nearby door. "Your room; go on and open it. We've been standing here long enough for the TARDIS to make it."

Adam reached out for the handle on the door, turning it slowly and pushing it open as he looked back and invited her inside. She followed him into the room, surprised at the overall lack of decorations. There was a bed in one corner, barely big enough for him to sleep on, she thought and a chair by the wall. She looked over at Adam as he settled down on the bed, his bag next to him as he shifted and called the mattress lumpy. Frowning as she moved to the door across the room, Rose arched a disbelieving brow at the bathroom that was barely bigger than a broom cupboard. Either the TARDIS didn't like Adam or he hadn't given her anything to go by for making the room.

"So, what did you mean earlier?" Rose asked as she turned back to look at Adam. "Why are you happy I'm human?" she asked him again.

"Well, to be honest, if you hadn't been, Mr. van Statten would've wanted to scan you, too." He told her as though the idea of scanning someone was perfectly normal.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked as she gave him her full attention, politely declining the seat he offered her next to him on the bed.

"Mr. van Statten scans all the new alien things I bring him. He has a few different machines he uses to see what's inside and how things work. Even has a doctor of his own on staff to perform autopsies if he ever actually finds an alien," Adam explained.

"Autopsies?" Rose asked tonelessly as she stared at him, her expression unreadable.

"Well, sure." Adam shrugged as he stood and moved toward the window. "He finds alien things and studies them. What?" he asked when she grasped his arm and spun him to face her.

"You're telling me that he would've tried to study The Doctor?" Rose asked, anger and fear warring within her. "He would've tried to…to cut him open?"

"It's not like he's human," Adam said with a shrug. "He looks enough like it, but he's not. And I don't think Mr. van Statten would've had him cut open while he was alive. He might want to, but I doubt he would."

Rose shook her head as she dropped her hand and backed away from him. He was talking about torturing another being as though it was normal and acceptable. It was just like back in that room with the uncatalogued items. When he had tapped into the feed and they had looked down on the Dalek as it was being tortured, Rose thought as her anger grew, he hadn't been bothered by it. A living creature was being tortured and he hadn't cared one bit. Adam called out to her when she backed away from him further, the girl he was just getting to know disappearing from his room. He moved to follow her, only for the door to close on its own and refuse to open. He was stuck inside the small bedroom and still had no idea why she was upset.

Rose looked back at the closed door behind her when she heard Adam call after her again, his hand beating on the door as she moved down the hall. Her lips folded in over her teeth as she lifted a hand to cover her mouth. She needed to find The Doctor. She needed to see him and talk to him and know that he was ok. What had been done to him while they'd been apart? He hadn't acted as though anything was different, but that didn't mean he'd been treated well either. She looked ahead of her, frowning at the light blinking on and off ahead of her and turned into the open kitchen.

"Just keep him in there, yeah?" Rose asked of the TARDIS when she felt the slight nudge at the back of her mind. "I just really can't be around him right now."

She felt the air grow warm around her, surrounding her before dissipating and knew then that it was the TARDIS' way of giving her comfort. The ship couldn't talk to her like she could The Doctor, but still the TARDIS found a way to communicate with her. She offered a fleeting smile in response and moved to the stove. Taking the kettle to the sink and filling it with water; she returned it to the stove and watched as the flame lit on its own beneath it. Her actions were slowed, discordant as she moved without thought and tried to settle her mind before searching out The Doctor.

She needed to know that he was alright, but knew that she couldn't ask the question burning in her mind. Who could ask such a thing of someone else? How could she look at him and ask if he had been tortured? Her hand lifted to her mouth as she remembered the screams from the Dalek, her mind turning the electronic alien voice into another – into his. She fought back the tears in her eyes, refusing to cry even as she felt her throat constrict with the emotions she couldn't hide. It hurt her in a way that she couldn't quite define to know that there was not just a possibility, but an almost certainty that The Doctor had been tortured.

**:::::**

"What's wrong, Old Girl?" he asked the TARDIS, his hand brushing lovingly over the center of the console when he felt her displeasure.

'_Rose,'_ his ship answered simply.

"Mad at her, are you?" he asked only to wince at the telepathic smack the TARDIS answered him with. "Oi! What was that for?"

'_Rose,' _the TARDIS repeated, and The Doctor shook his head as he sighed.

"Fancy a cuppa?" Rose asked from behind him and he looked back over his shoulder.

"You changed," he said without moving from the console, his attention turning back to the controls as Rose walked in holding a mug in each hand. "Your boyfriend all settled then?" he asked her and looked back when she failed to answer him.

"TARDIS gave him a room," she said as she stepped up to the console and handed him a mug. "Well, more like a cupboard with a bed." She looked down into her tea as she fought back the darkness of her worries and offered him a smile as she moved to the jump seat. "So, where are we off to then?"

"Don't know," he told her and looked back at the empty hall.

"He won't be joining us," Rose said dismissively when she caught the direction of The Doctor's gaze. "Big day, lot to take in."

She watched as his expression softened then, his teasing smile returning at her assurance that it would just be the two of them. She met his smile with a genuine one of her own, though both their gazes held the darkness of the day they had experienced. The Doctor moved one lever and then another, spinning a control before moving another lever halfway. He turned to her then, his eyes searching hers out as he stepped around the console and held out his hand.

"Fancy a stargaze, Rose Tyler?" The Doctor asked, watching as Rose's smile widened, her soft hand slipping into his.

She let him lead her to the door of the TARDIS, no longer worried or afraid of having the wide expanse of space opened up to them. Smiling back at him when he took her mug from her hand, she sat down on the edge of the ramp, her legs dangling outside the TARDIS and reached up for their drinks. He handed the mugs to her easily before crouching down and sitting beside her. She looked down to hide her disappointment, handing him his tea before looking up at the universe outside the TARDIS.

This was her favorite part of the day, she thought as The Doctor wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. When they would simply sit together in the open doorway of the TARDIS and look out at the stars. She listened to his soft chuckle when she tipped her head to rest on his shoulder as they looked out at the universe. His hand moved to her hair, his long fingers toying with her blonde strands absently as they sat together in silence.

The Doctor looked out among the stars, pointing at a binary system to the left as he offered its name and history to Rose. She breathed in deeply as she asked him about the sun the planets shared a system with. The color was both the familiar gold of her own sun, as well as a deep crimson that seemed to be pulsing around it. He laughed with the joy of her fascination, turning his head to kiss her brow before telling her that this sun had once been two, but they had swallowed each other to become one. She smiled up at him before sighing contentedly and resting her cheek against his chest.

She missed having him sit behind her, the warmth it brought her to have his legs framing hers, the feel of his twin hearts beating against her back. She would never tell him how very much she loved to lean back against him, to fall asleep in his arms and wake up tucked in her bed. Everything he did, even when he never said a word about it after, made her feel cared for and infinitely special. Rose smiled when The Doctor tipped his head to rest his cheek on her hair, relaxing against her as they watched the planets move in their orbits, neither one noticing the silent figure standing behind them at a distance.

This was something he needed to see, the TARDIS thought defiantly. Rose had only brought him on board as a distraction, a way to offer someone else the beauty that she had seen while also putting space between herself and The Doctor. She had looked into the girl's heart, seen how many times of late that Rose had imagined kissing The Doctor or him kissing her. The console seemed to be her favorite, always with her sitting up on the controls as he stood between her knees and ravished her mouth. But this boy thought that he could take Rose away, have her as his own and the TARDIS wouldn't let him entertain the thought a moment longer.

She had opened his bedroom door once Rose and The Doctor had sat down together on the edge of her ramp. Through gentle nudges and shifting hallways, she had led Adam out the depths and into the console room just so that he could see this. He would never come between Rose and her Time Lord; there wasn't anything that could do that. She knew the very second he understood, but as he turned, she felt the boy's defiance rise. One last desperate hope stayed in his mind, the belief that he could somehow make himself better and more impressive to Rose than The Doctor ever would be. But even as he turned away from them and walked back into the hallway, the TARDIS found that Adam still could not think of The Doctor beyond the word 'alien'. He wasn't a man or a person, just 'alien' and while there was no hatred behind the thought, she hated that he couldn't see beyond it.

"I thought I lost you," The Doctor told Rose, his voice little more than a shaking whisper.

"You'll never get rid of me," Rose said as she looked up to meet his gaze and watched him frown as he looked into her eyes. "What?"

"Oh, Rose," he said softly, mourning all that she had been through that day as he touched her cheek before tucking her hair behind her ear. "It could have gone so differently. I could've destroyed that Dalek."

"I couldn't let you do that and I never would," she promised him. "I knew what it was and what it did," she told him as his blue eyes darkened with conflicting emotions. "But I'd never let you do that to yourself. If you had done that today, you never would've forgiven yourself, no matter if it deserved it or not."

"Rose Tyler," he spoke her name slowly as he met her gaze.

"I won't ever let anyone hurt you," she said as she set her tea aside and hugged him close, nuzzling into the curve of his throat when he returned her embrace. "Not even you."

"You're gonna be my protector then?" he asked, teasing her softly.

"Somebody has to," she teased back as she pulled away and reached for her tea.

"Cold?" he asked when she shivered, chuckling when she shook her head in denial. "Come on then, let's get you back inside before you freeze."

"I'll just have to remember a blanket next time," she told him as he helped her stand from the floor.

"Rose?" He waited for her troubled gaze to meet his before lifting his hand to cup her cheek in his palm, his thumb brushing over her warm skin. "Are you alright? I know today was a bit worse than it's ever been."

"Never ordered something to die before," she told him as he took her mug and set it aside on the console next to his. "We saw it," she said as he wrapped her in his arms and held her close. "It was being tortured and he didn't care. He acted like it was normal."

"That Dalek killed so many people. It could've killed you and still you cared about it," he told her with reverence and disbelief.

"It was a living creature. It talked to me. It could see me," she told him as her hand moved beneath the fold of his jacket to grip his jumper. "It fed off my DNA. In a way, I gave it life."

"Mother of a Dalek?" he asked her with a chuckle, looking down to meet her gaze. "Creature couldn't ask for any better."

"S'pose not," she agreed, pulling away as she tried to hide a yawn.

"Big day for you, for both of us," he told her, gathering their mugs as he turned and led her down the hall inside the TARDIS. "We'll orbit here around the nebula for a while. Let us all get some rest," he said as he stepped into the kitchen.

"You finally tired then?" she asked him as she moved to take her mug from his hand before he could dump the tea. "No throwing out my chocolate tea," she teased him before taking a sip.

"You and your chocolate tea," he said with an exaggerated sigh as he rolled his eyes.

The Doctor looked up when the lights in the kitchen dimmed, frowning at the feel of the TARDIS as she pressed against his mind. She was concerned about both him and Rose, the feel of her emotions encouraging him to rest. He waited to see if she would speak, but she remained silent instead, his beautiful ship nudging him closer to the girl by his side. His lips turned up at one side when he found Rose to be asleep on her feet. The mug in her hands was empty though she still held it carefully as though afraid she would spill the liquid that was no longer there.

He was as tired as she was, dead on his feet and his mind already halfway in his bed. It had been a long time since he had last been forcibly scanned; the technology used having left him in pain. He wasn't certain if it had been van Statten's intention to make the scan painful or not, but the laser left his skin feeling sunburned and his muscles strained and aching. Looking over to Rose, he found that the discomfort left behind was soon forgotten as the sight and scent of his companion soothed him. He watched her rinse her mug before placing it down in the sink, smiling when she whispered her thanks to the TARDIS.

"Where's his room then?" The Doctor asked when he led Rose into the hall, seeing only the door to his room and the one leading to Rose's.

"I don't know," Rose shook her head, frowning in confusion as she looked around. "The TARDIS kept changing the halls. Not really sure where his room ended up. I think the pool was next to it though. What?" she asked when The Doctor laughed.

"Pool's on the other end of the ship," he told her with a wide smile. "TARDIS just seems to be having a bit of fun. Nothing to be concerned about. You don't seem bothered by it," he said, his statement ending on a note of curiosity.

Rose shook her head, pouting her lips before smiling up at him. She didn't offer an answer or an explanation. She had thought that it would be easier with Adam on board, less tense with someone else there to offer her a distraction, but it hadn't gone as she had planned. Being in close quarters with Adam hadn't changed the direction of her thoughts or redirected her desires. All she had been able to think about was The Doctor. _No one will ever compare to him,_ she thought and stilled as she realized that it wasn't her hormones she had been trying to distract.

"Rose?"

She looked to her side to find him studying her, his brow furrowed in worry. Offering him a reassuring smile, she shook her head to deny whatever he may have been thinking. Rose knew that he didn't think he was handsome, but everything about him – his mind, his sense of fun and adventure, his eyes… _Blimey, his eyes_, she thought with a silent sigh. Every bit of it made him beautiful to her, special, and treasured. Why she had ever thought she could distract herself from him she would never know. She only wanted the distance there so that she wouldn't follow through on her fantasies of pushing him down into the jump seat and snogging him silly.

He didn't want her. She knew he didn't, not like that. She was human and he was alien. She was nineteen and he was over nine hundred. None of it mattered to her, not one bit, but she knew that it mattered to him. At least it seemed to. She lifted her hand to his face, touching his cheek as she looked into his cobalt eyes. She could never know all of what happened with him. She knew better than anyone that some stories couldn't be told, some experiences simply too painful to put into words. The Time War had broken him; she could see it in his eyes when he talked about it. She couldn't make the past hurt any less, but maybe, just maybe, she could give him a brighter future.

"Best be off then," Rose said a moment later as she let her hand fall from his face. "New worlds to explore."

"Right, yeah," he nodded, and gave her that same evasive smile she had seen him use a thousand times. "We all need a bit of shut eye."

"Doctor, I'm here," Rose said as she stood in the open door of her bedroom. "If you need me, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

He smiled at her then, a breath of amusement coming from him as he stared at her. She met his smile with one of her own, nodding when he offered her a soft spoken goodnight, and closed the door of her room. He looked down for a moment before turning his head back up and staring at her door with a curious frown. She had closed her door, but not completely. There was about an inch gap between her door and the frame, just enough room to offer him one last quiet message. _I'm here if you need me._

**:::::**

_The sky above him was burning, ribbons of fire moving through the air as ash fell to the ground around him. He could still hear the screaming in his mind. The cries of fear and desperation were echoing through his memory like some kind of macabre opera. His head tipped back, his eyes widening as he watched one beautiful TARDIS fall from the sky, its hull torn apart in too many places for it to ever survive. There was no hope, no chance of a brighter future for his people. This war was ripping them apart; his world lay half charred and broken._

"_Exterminate!"_

_His attention snapped to his left, thousands of Daleks flying through the sky as they destroyed buildings and killed people by the hundreds. This war had raged for so long – too long and there was only one thing left that could be done. He knew what was needed, knew what he had to do, but the very thought of it made him feel as though he was dying. To destroy the Daleks, he had to destroy his own race, his people. He looked to his right at the sound of someone running, his eyes growing wide to see Rose racing toward him. He reached out his hand to her as he saw the Dalek chasing after her and ran toward her in the hopes of saving her, but the Dalek was faster._

The Doctor cried out as he woke, sweat beaded on his brow as he panted and fought to catch his breath. Her name fell from his trembling lips, his blue eyes wide and frightened. He struggled with the blankets that were tangled around his legs, tripping over them as he stumbled from the bed and made his way to his washroom. The TARDIS turned the water on for him as he came to stand in front of the sink, her concern for him evident in the way that she tried to soothe him through their connection. He filled his hands with water, splashing it over his face, though the action did nothing to wake him, or make him forget the dream.

Gripping the edges of the sink for purchase, The Doctor forced himself to stand upright and move away from the bathroom. He was still achingly tired, his body nearly crippled under the force of his exhaustion. He looked at his bed, unable to bear the thought of lying back down. Moving to the door of his bedroom and gripping the handle, he pulled it open only to still and fall silent. She had known what he needed as she always had, his beautiful TARDIS having shifted the rooms so that when he opened his door, he was walking into Rose's room instead of the hall. He watched as she shifted in her bed, listening as she released a heavy sigh.

"Doctor?" Rose called out to him softly, her vision sleep blurred as she stared at him standing in her doorway.

"I didn't mean to wake you," he said hesitantly, the memory of the dream and the ghosts from the war weighing him down. "I'll just…"

"Come to bed," she told him, holding her hand out for him to take as she waited for him. "Come on then," she encouraged when he seemed uncertain.

He moved slowly to her, taking her hand and letting her pull him down into the bed next to her. He hadn't thought of putting on a shirt before he had left his room, but now he worried about what she would think. Rose sat up as she lifted the blankets, her soft voice encouraging him once more to lie down with her. She didn't care how he was dressed or that he wasn't his usual confident self. He needed her and he came to her. That was all that mattered to her.

Rose smiled at him tiredly when he moved to lie on top of the blankets, shaking her head without saying a word as she held them up for him to climb under. She opened her arms to him as he slid into the bed next to her, smiling softly at the feel of him wrapping around her. Of all the things his mind could've noticed, The Doctor found himself distracted by the knowledge that she wasn't wearing a bra. He tried to force the thought away, to think of something else. Rose didn't say anything as she held him to her, the fingers of one hand gently tracing over his cheek and through the short hair at his temple as she held his head to her chest.

She was warm, The Doctor thought as he held Rose. Her heartbeat sounded under his ear, a perfect soothing rhythm that beckoned him closer to sleep with the promise of good dreams. Her body moved beneath him, lifting and falling slowly with each in drawn breath and he felt broken by how safe she made him feel. His anchor in the storm, one tiny fragile little human and she could make the ghosts of his past fall silent and still. Her thumb brushed over the curve of his cheek, catching the moisture on his skin as a lone silent tear fell unbidden.

"It wasn't a particularly bright day," Rose said softly, her voice smooth and gentle. "The clouds were thick above us and the water always seemed to be shifting. Mum was afraid it was going to storm, but I wasn't afraid of anything." She felt his head move as he looked up at her and looked down to meet his eyes with a tired smile. "We took Mickey with us. I don't think I told you that before. God, he was scared of everything."

"But not you," he said softly as he watched her face light up, her smile widening even further.

"Nope. I wasn't scared of a thing. I wanted to see the whales. Scared Mum half to death when I tried to climb through the railing for a closer look." She laughed then as she resumed her gentle petting of his face and hair. "The whales came up just as the rain started, just a light little rain. Mum wanted to drag me back under some kind of cover, but I wouldn't let her. And then they sang… She couldn't have pried me away from the railing with a crowbar," Rose said, chuckling and smiling when she heard The Doctor laugh. "The Time Rift reminds me of them. The sound, the feeling. Like I'd never want to leave."

She began to describe the Time Rift to him the way that she saw it, the colors and ribbons of energy twisting and turning as they wrapped around one another. She told him how it had sounded to her, how beautiful and alien it was. Her voice grew softer the longer she spoke, her breath falling from her in contented sighs every now and again when she paused. He listened as she spoke, taking comfort from the sound of her voice. Her body was warm and pliant in his arms, his head lying on her chest. Their legs had long since tangled together beneath the sheets, the closeness offering him something he wanted, but couldn't name. He could feel the heaviness of sleep pulling him closer toward his dreams as Rose's voice gave him the comfort he needed.

"My Doctor," Rose whispered when she felt his weight grow heavy against her, his breaths even and deep as he slept in her arms. "I shall always be here for you."

Tipping her head up from where it rested on the pillow, Rose pressed a kiss to his brow. Breathing in deeply as she relaxed back on the pillow, she pulled the blankets up over his shoulders and closed her eyes as sleep claim to claim her. The TARDIS watched over the pair as they slept, the feel of them together bringing her peace. Her Doctor's troubled heart for once was still and happy as it beat in perfect harmony with Rose's. She had watched over him for so long now, so many years together. She had seen him suffer nightmare after torturous nightmare with no relief in sight, but now as he lay wrapped in the arms of one girl, his spirit was peaceful.

The one girl, the one companion her Time Lord had brought home who knew nothing about time and space dimensions understood more than all of the others put together. _I love him,_ she heard Rose's heart whisper and smiled as she heard The Doctor's twin hearts whisper their love for Rose in return. She balanced him, kept him steady and brought him strength when he was ready to give up. The Doctor gave Rose so much more, healing the breaks that she could feel inside the girl's heart. They had been born for each other and the TARDIS knew that they hadn't meant by chance. The Doctor and Rose, their story had been told by seers and prophets long before either were born and would be told long after both were laid to rest. They hadn't been written in the stars, the TARDIS thought, they had been written on the stars for all to see.


	7. Chapter 6 - The Long Game

Finding His Reason

Chapter 6 - The Long Game

The room was dark, the only light coming from the painted universe that decorated the walls and ceiling. Muted reds, dark blues, and purples - from iridescent to almost black - created the planets and stars and systems, the colors glowing softly in the darkness of the room. The blankets moved as The Doctor stirred slowly. The warmth surrounding him made him feel lazy and peaceful. It was the first time, in a long time, that The Doctor had slept throughout the night. His mind and twin hearts were at peace, a feeling of absolute safety and love infusing his being.

He moved slowly as he drew in a breath, Rose's scent filling his lungs and senses completely. The muscles beneath his skin quivered, his twin hearts picking up speed as he remembered where he was and whose bed he was in. His eyes fluttered open slowly as he flexed his right hand and felt velvety soft skin beneath his fingertips. The woman lying beneath him was still sleeping soundly, a small miracle he was thankful for as he found himself in a more awkward position than he remembered falling asleep in. What he had thought was a sheet covering his right hand turned out to be her sleep shirt instead.

The curve between his fingers and thumb had somehow found itself tucked underneath the pillowing mound of her breast as they slept, her skin almost scalding against his own. Her legs were curled over the backs of his, her left thigh high on his waist. He was content to stay where he was, lying on top of her and in between her legs, as she held him wrapped in her arms. She was holding him close, one of her hands curled around the back of his neck and her other arm wrapped around his shoulders. She was protecting him, he realized. From the monsters that lay hidden in his dreams or memories of the past that served only to haunt him and drive him mad, she would protect him.

"Doctor?"

Rose's voice was soft and muffled, his name slurred on her lips. He turned his attention up to her face, her eyes closed as thick dark lashes dusted the curve of her cheeks. She was talking in her sleep, he noted and smiled as he studied her. Lifting his hand to her face, he touched her cheek and temple, before smoothing her sleep tousled hair back against the pillow. It was true that Gallifrey had been a predominantly male society, though the women had always been revered. They were treasured and respected. A married man wasn't even allowed to sleep in the same room as his wife unless she invited him.

Rose mumbled again, the soft sound pulling his attention from his thoughts and back to her. He needed to get up, he told himself. It wouldn't do well for Rose to wake up with him still in her arms. What would she think? Lifting his hand from the bed and moving to gently grip her leg that was wrapped around his waist, he stilled when he came into contact with bare skin. He didn't think as he slid his hand slowly up to her hip and found that the clothing he expected to have been bunched up was missing completely. How had he not known that she wasn't wearing pants last night? Her sleep shirt was barely anything, just a flimsy bit of cloth that covered her and left only shadows for him to see.

"Blimey," The Doctor whispered, his breath shuddering as it fell from his lips. "You're not wearing any pants," he said, cursing himself for speaking the thought aloud.

"Never wear pants to bed," Rose mumbled as she rubbed her foot against the back of his leg, stretching without truly waking. "Not here anyway. TARDIS keeps m'warm."

She moved slowly, a drowsy pout on her lips as her eyes fluttered opened. He could tell that she was still mostly asleep and wondered how much of this she thought was a dream. She asked him to stay, her hand brushing over his cheek as she petted his face with concern. Kissing her forehead, he teased her that she would sleep her life away if he let her and laughed when she tried to drag him back down to her. Petting her hair as he pulled back and slowly extracted himself from her hold, he promised to have tea waiting for her when she fully woke.

"Chocolate tea?" she asked him, her eyes barely open as she looked at him.

"If you insist," he said, leaning over as he lifted the blankets up around her shoulders. "An hour," he offered her the time and watched as she stretched lazily before turning over to look at him.

"You know, it's not like we actually have to get up for anything," Rose told him as she rubbed her hand against her cheek before reaching up to him.

"And I'm to take that to mean?" he asked her, a teasing grin twisting his lips.

"I was all comfortable and you got up. Come back to bed," Rose said as she reached out for him.

He stood silent as he stared at her. The muscles beneath his skin quivered as he looked upon her and the image she made. Part of him wanted so much to join her in the bed, to return to her embrace. His body tightened in response to her, his hearts and body wishing to return to her even as he knew that he couldn't. Returning to her bed now would be like playing with fire, and Rose Tyler, she could burn him. He drew in a trembling breath when she sat up and moved the blankets to rise up onto her knees.

"It's alright," Rose told him as she looked into his blue eyes and lifted her hand to his cheek. "Go get dressed and be The Doctor," she said, smiling as she framed his face between her hands and tilted his head down to kiss his brow.

"I'm not The Doctor now?" he asked her softly, half teasing her as he tried to hide the want and need in his voice.

"No," she shook her head as her gaze remained locked with his. "Right here, right now, you're _my_ Doctor. Go make us some tea. I'll meet you in the kitchen."

"Rose Tyler," he spoke her name with a breathy, relieved laugh. "I'll make you your tea."

She gave him a wide smile as she watched him turn toward the door, laughing when he turned back to look at her before exiting the room. The door closed quietly behind him as he left her room, surprised when he stepped into the hall instead of into his room as he had last night. He didn't see Adam standing in the hall lengths behind him, the boy's expression unreadable as he watched The Doctor walk down the hall and into his own room. Adam stayed where he was as he watched the door open again, Rose walking out of her room wrapped in a dressing gown and padding across the floor in socks that he thought looked too big for her feet.

She turned down the hall toward him, not seeing him standing there until she was an arm's length away. The smile she greeted him with was full of emotion that he knew wasn't meant for him, but he promised himself that one day it would be. He didn't understand why he was so jealous or why he wanted her. Perhaps it was because she was the only girl he'd met who didn't think him a nutter for talking about aliens and other worlds and the like. Or maybe, he thought, maybe it was for the same reason that The Doctor seemed to keep her with him. Rose was special and anything special would be his. If he had learned one thing from Mr. van Statten, it was to go after what he wanted and be ruthless in his pursuit of it.

"Morning, Adam," Rose said as she smiled and stepped passed him.

"Are you off to the showers?" he asked her with confusion as he followed her.

"No," Rose laughed. "The gardens."

"What's in the gardens?" he asked her, and Rose looked at him with a touch of confusion and amusement.

"Several different plants including," she smiled brightly, "a Frixterran apple tree. The fruit doesn't look or taste like the apples you and I are used to, but they are delicious."

"You're going after them then?" he asked, probing for more information as he followed her in through the doors, stilling as he stared at the vast expanse of the gardens. "God, it's huge."

"I think The Doctor said this covers about forty acres, or something like that," she told him with a smile. "Go on, explore it," Rose encouraged and watched as he walked forward with wide eyes.

Moving to her tea plants as Adam began his exploration of the gardens, Rose gathered two of the long, plump beans hanging down from the plant closest to her. Tucking the beans into the pocket of her dressing gown, she looked back at Adam once more before leaving the gardens. There was so much that he hadn't seen yet, so much that he didn't understand. Her travels with The Doctor were so much more than just seeing the technology of the future, or big events of the past. It was about meeting people, learning about new cultures and species, discovering who she was and helping others where she could. It was beauty and exploration and so much more than she could ever describe.

"You're not calling _that_ dressed, are you?"

Rose looked up at The Doctor and shook her head as she rolled her eyes. She teased him back for wearing the same outfit day after day and laughed when he told her that he'd changed his jumper. Telling him that she still wanted her chocolate tea, she walked passed him and to her bedroom. A shower was in order, she thought as she took one of the beans from the pocket of her robe and split it open with her nail. Eating the sticky pulp from inside it as she turned on the water for her shower, she ate the second bean. Dropping the husks into the bin as she removed her clothes, Rose stepped into the shower and let the spray soothe her.

**:::::**

She didn't like him. There were things about this boy that set her on edge and made her more suspicious of him with each moment that passed. His future was in a state of flux, his motivations setting her on edge. Following his movements as Adam stepped through halls and rooms, the TARDIS shifted pathways and closed doors before he could get to them. She knew what he wanted. She could read his thoughts and knew his desires. He was a collector, just like the man he had worked for and as long as he got what he wanted, he didn't care who got hurt along the way.

Her anger and suspicion manifested in the temperature of the air, and the boy she was monitoring wasn't the only one to feel it. Rose shivered inside her room as she stepped out of her shower and dressed. While she knew that the temperature had dropped by more than a few degrees, it was the unsettled feeling she got because of it that drew her concern. Brows furrowing as she stepped over to the wardrobe, Rose opened the cupboard door and pulled out the cloth and oil the woman had given her. She hadn't used the items yet, but feeling the TARDIS' upset, she knew it would be as good a time as any.

Uncapping the bottle and pouring a generous amount onto the soft cloth, Rose stepped over to the wall by the bookshelf. Lifting the cloth to the wall and praying she didn't wipe away the mural the TARDIS had made for her, she began to smooth the oiled cloth in slow gentle circles. She couldn't speak to the TARDIS like The Doctor could, but the least she could do was try. Closing her eyes as she continued her ministrations, Rose thought of her concern for the TARDIS and focused on her desire to know what was wrong.

She could feel it at a distance at first, someone stroking her and caring for her. It wasn't The Doctor, the TARDIS thought as warmth and love began to break through and distract her from Adam. There was a softness that she could feel, almost as though someone was massaging her and seconds later she heard Rose's soft voice as her thoughts whispered to her. Her Time Lord may have brought this girl on board, but Rose was hers. She had chosen this girl to stay with them and, with each moment that passed, she knew that her decision couldn't have been better.

"TARDIS?" Rose spoke aloud inside her room as she added more oil to the cloth and continued to rub it into the walls. "Are you alright? The Doctor's said that you're telepathic, but I don't know if you can hear me. I'm not like him."

_"No, you're not, Rose,"_ the TARDIS responded even though she knew the girl couldn't hear her. "_You're so much better and special. My Rose, not even a Time Lord, but you care for me like I was one of your own."_

Rose took in a shaking breath and released it in a heavy amused sigh. The air around her grew warm, circling her in a slow spiral until it lifted her hair and toyed with the edges of her collar. Biting her lip as she smiled and closed her eyes, Rose focused her thoughts on the desire to return the TARDIS' embrace and turned back to her bed when she heard the soft trilling of her flower. She wasn't sure what to make of his songs, the flower stretching and reaching up as it fluttered its petals and shook its leaves. He certainly looked happy to her and Rose wondered if the flower could feel the TARDIS too.

She looked down on the girl as her hand stilled on the wall and felt Rose's mood drop suddenly. Looking into Rose's heart, the TARDIS felt the heaviness of her concern and the darkness of her worry. Her heart was wide open, honest and selfless, and the TARDIS knew that she was concerned about The Doctor. Wondering if Rose would speak her thoughts aloud, she waited and warmed the air around the girl to bring her comfort.

"He was hurt," Rose said softly, shaking her head slowly as she resumed her work with the oiled cloth. "The Doctor was hurt by van Statten, but he acts so tough and tries to hide it. Will you help me, TARDIS?" Rose asked, turning her eyes up at the ceiling. "If he has nightmares or gets scared, will you bring him to me? Even if I'm sleeping, just bring him to me and let me hold him, yeah?" she asked of the TARDIS. "I don't want him to be alone with that kind of hurt."

_"Rose Tyler, I can see all of you and our Time Lord could never do any better,"_ the TARDIS said as she made the stars on the wall in front of Rose's eyes glow. The planets in the system revolved around the red-gold sun, the air warming around Rose as it closed in thick enough to be felt like a touch before dissipating. She watched as the girl smiled, felt the warmth of her heart as Rose reached out in thanks. They couldn't talk, but still they had found a way to communicate with each other and even as subtle as it was, it worked perfectly.

"Rose." She turned around at the sound of The Doctor's voice and smiled to see him poking his head in the door. "Came to see if you were ready. What are you doing?" he asked as he stepped toward Rose, his eyes fixed on the cloth in her hand.

"The planet," Rose told him with a smile, "the girl I got the blanket from. She gave me oil for living skin, for the TARDIS."

"You're rubbin' her down then?" he asked her with an amused shake of his head. "You're spoiling her, you know?"

"Everyone deserves a bit of spoiling," Rose teased him with a wink. "She said it was safe enough for me to use as well, but I haven't tried it yet."

The Doctor lifted the bottle from the shelf near Rose, removing the cap and bringing it close to smell the oil inside. The oil was made of natural plant extracts, the liquid inside adapting to scent of the person, or thing it was used on instead of covering it up with a different smell. Putting the cap back on the bottle, he told Rose the tea was ready and waited as she petted her flower before leaving the room. He hadn't been certain what to think when he had found Rose with the sentient plant at first, but day after day he watched her care for it as though she had adopted a child. A flower that had been near its end from the sadness of losing the couple it had been with years back thrived and flourished under her care. The sight of its vibrant colors and the sound of its trilling song spoke more about Rose than anything else ever could.

He smiled when Rose took his hand and let him lead her into the kitchen. It was just the two of them, Adam nowhere in sight, and The Doctor was glad for that. There were things about the boy that he wasn't sure he liked. It was even more troubling to him that the TARDIS didn't like Adam. While Rose was the only of his companions that she had plainly said she liked, she had never seemed to outright dislike anyone before. He turned his attention to Rose when he heard her sigh, and watched as she lifted her mug to breathe in the aroma of the tea.

"She was upset," Rose said as she looked up at him with a concerned frown. "The TARDIS."

"Yes." The Doctor nodded.

"Why?" Rose asked and watched him purse his lips, the expression on his face telling her that he wouldn't give her an actual answer.

"Not sure yet," he answered and watched Rose nod slowly.

"Alright, then," Rose said and grinned as she lifted the mug to take a sip. "That just means I get to find out the same time you do."

"Not going to badger me for answers then?" he teased her and listened to her laugh.

"No, that'd be my mum," she teased back.

Rose laughed as she watched The Doctor lift his hand to his cheek, the memory of her mother slapping him still amusing to her. Stepping up to him as he dropped his hand, she lifted onto her toes and kissed his cheek before walking passed him. He stilled as he watched her move, the feel of her lips on his face making his skin tingle. He had kissed her cheek or her brow several times before, so why did her one kiss to his cheek feel so different? Why did it make him have to remain perfectly still just to keep from grabbing her back to him? Why was Rose Tyler so different from everyone else?

"Rose..." The Doctor paused as he turned to look at her. "What do you want to do today?" he asked, frowning as he knew that hadn't been the question he'd wanted to ask.

"Travel." She took in a deep breath as she smiled and set her cup down. "Into the future. Far into the future," she answered.

"How far?" he asked as he grinned, his expression one of delight and adventure.

"Oh, I don't know," she said as she stepped up to him. "You choose, but," she held up her hand and winked. "You let me tell Adam when we get there."

He regarded her suspiciously for a moment before smiling. "Alright then. We'll see how your boyfriend takes it," he told her and watched her roll her eyes as she grinned.

"Think you're so smart," she teased him with a shake of her head.

"I am so smart," he told her, pretending to be offended as he straightened and nodded.

"There you are!" Adam said from the doorway as he stepped into the kitchen, The Doctor and Rose falling silent as they turned to look at him.

"Get lost?" Rose asked and looked at Adam with amusement when he nodded. "How lost?" she asked with a curious grin.

"It's not fair, you know. There need to be signs or something," Adam told her with a heavy sigh, though he tried to play off his frustration with a smile. "I was in the gardens and tried to find my way back to where you and I had gone in, but I got turned around, or something. I found a door near the pepper plants. At least I think they were pepper plants. Looked like peppers anyway."

"Pepper plants?" Rose asked as she turned to The Doctor with a smile.

"Roxtaran peppers," he told her. "Moderately edible."

"Moderately?" Rose teased him with a curious grin.

"Bit hot," he answered as he motioned his mouth. "Make you burn for days."

"Anyway," Adam interrupted them, The Doctor's expression losing his teasing grin and becoming unreadable. "Found myself out by the pool. Didn't see any kind of hall between the gardens or pool, so I walked through until I found another door. Ended up by some kind of storage bay, I think. Room was empty and almost as big as the pool."

The Doctor snorted, but remained silent. The TARDIS had been toying with Adam, having her fun by switching around the rooms until the boy was too lost for words. He listed as Adam continued, telling them of having found himself in the gardens again from another door and then finally being led back to his room. He had spent more than two hours trying to find his way to the kitchen and The Doctor watched as Rose's lips twitched with amusement. She was trying not to laugh, he could see that clearly, but the daft boy she had brought on board thought she was smiling for him. The Doctor rolled his eyes when Adam puffed out his chest and smiled with something resembling pride. Did he actually think Rose was impressed by his getting lost?

"Stop it," Rose whispered to him as she tapped the back of her hand against The Doctor's thigh without Adam noticing.

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything," he whispered back, noticing Rose's grin as she tried to keep her chuckle silent.

"You know exactly what you're doing," she teased him and shook her head. "Now stop it."

"I'm not the one who moves the rooms," he told her with a satisfied room.

"Now, don't go blaming the TARDIS," Rose laughed softly. "She never did anything like that to me."

_"Ha!"_ The TARDIS laughed at The Doctor, her amusement undeniable. _"I like Rose."_

_Old Girl, you only like her because she takes your side,_ The Doctor shot back telepathically.

_"That's because she's smarter than you."_

"Oi!" The Doctor shouted his retort and pursed his lips when Adam and Rose regarded him with confusion. "Enough with all this talkin'. You humans just jabbering away." Rubbing his hands together, he moved to the door of the kitchen. "Time to go see the universe!"

**:::::**

The Doctor looked down at the controls of the TARDIS as the ship landed and studied the coordinates shown. He looked back at Rose before glancing at Adam and rolling his eyes. She laughed quietly, her eyes sparkling with humor as she looked back at Adam and watched as he looked around at the TARDIS with wide eyes. Turning back to The Doctor with an amused shrug, she jogged forward to take his hand and followed him out of the ship, the doors closing behind them. He told her when they were, explained to her where they were and nodded to the gate across from them.

He knew the technology that would be found here would be far beyond anything Adam was used to. Rose had seen different worlds several times over. She'd been far into the future, farther than this place and The Doctor had never once had any doubts about her. But Adam was another story. He didn't know if he could trust the human boy, doubted very much that the TARDIS ever would, and knew that this would be his test. He met Rose's smile as she rapped her knuckles on the TARDIS door and bid Adam to come out.

Rose stood aside when Adam emerged out of the TARDIS, telling him when they were and walking around as she gave evidence to her answers of where they were. She led the way across the room and through the gate, looking out at the Earth below with The Doctor, and feeling more annoyed than disappointed when Adam fainted. She had never meant to form any deep kind of relationship with him, though she knew that Adam thought differently. No man - human or otherwise - would ever be able to compare to The Doctor in her eyes.

**:::::**

He had known it would be dangerous in some manner, even warned her to stay back when they got to floor five hundred, but she wouldn't have it. His Rose was tough, always fighting and staying by his side. She refused to let him battle alone, refused to let him face anything dark or dangerous alone. As much as it worried him, it thrilled him as well. She was strong and courageous and... The Doctor looked away from her, turning his attention to the computer screens and trying to banish the thought that wouldn't be silenced. She was his Rose, but she would never be _his_. She could never be his. Not like that, there were too many things keeping them apart.

He looked around the room, the corpses disturbing in their own right, but the living dead worse still. People kept working by the computer chips implanted inside their brains while their bodies decayed slowly in the frigid cold. He looked over at Rose, watching as she went to Suki and tried to get a reaction of any kind from her. Telling her that the woman was dead hurt him if only because he knew that it hurt her. Her rage fueled his, her will to fight making him stand tall in defense of her. It was her willingness to defend him that made him brave when he wasn't sure that he could be. Other incarnations had been warriors, but him? He had always been more of a coward. It was Rose who made him strong.

He tried to leave, only to find both himself and Rose captured. What had been curious and somewhat dangerous before, was made worse by the creature in the ceiling above them. The Mighty Jagrafess and the foolish human who believed he was powerful because of the master he served. His rage burned hotter the moment that he and Rose were confined by the manacles, his mind screaming at him because he knew what they were. He tried to distract the man that was holding them, talking as it was what he did best, but the man would not be swayed.

Rose hadn't known what to expect from their forced bondage, never knowing that the manacles were anything but cuffs to keep them restrained. She followed the man with her eyes as he moved around in front of them, wanting to yell at him for what he was doing. How could he betray, not only the people on Satellite Five, but the whole of the human race like this? He demanded their identities from them, snapping his fingers when he didn't like The Doctor's answer and Rose cried out as the electricity slammed through her.

Her wrists were on fire, her arms and shoulders aching as the electricity shot through her. She gritted her teeth as she tried to keep from crying out, but the pain was too much. It only lasted for seconds, not even a full minute, but it felt like hours to her. The Doctor shouted at the man to let Rose go, the sentiment making her angry even though she knew he was trying to protect her. He began to talk, his statements directed though he spoke no one's name and with a quick glance she saw what he did. There was no reason to believe that the woman would help them, but if The Doctor had taught her anything, it was to have hope.

The man in front of them stilled, his blue eyes widening with amusement, and something that almost looked like gloating. He appeared to have discovered the answer to a secret, something that no one wanted him to know. A Moment later he began to reveal The Doctor, pulling back the layers as he gave claim to his knowledge of who and what The Doctor was. He tried to deny him, but with a snap of the man's fingers a screen came to life.

Betrayal warred with disbelief as she stared at the screen, The Doctor shouting beside her as they watched the info spike flow into Adam's brain. She was furious with him, her anger such that she felt surprisingly calm. He hadn't just betrayed her trust, he had betrayed The Doctor's. Heat began to cycle through the room, the ice and frost melting in short moments as the plumbing was reversed. She gasped and flinched, the sound unheard in all the commotion as her manacles were released, her skin burning from the electricity that had shocked her once again. Working as quickly as she could, Rose dug The Doctor's sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket and followed his directions in using it to release him.

He was as mad as she was, his emotions almost palpable to her and Rose knew that neither one of them would come out of this ordeal unscathed. She moved with The Doctor, following him through the room as they ran to escape the Jagrafess, the heat killing it and those trapped beneath it. Time passed in moments that seemed to jump from one to the next without her remembering anything in between. She frowned as she looked at the people around them, trying to recall how they made it from the chair they'd found Cathica in back into the main area of floor one-three-nine, but she couldn't remember. Looking up as The Doctor passed her, she saw what held his focus and followed after him as he moved to confront Adam.

What he had done wasn't something that could be ignored, and Rose was doubting very much that it was something she could ever forgive him for. Regardless of what he had done to himself, it was what he had done to The Doctor that made it so much worse. She remained silent as Adam talked to her in the TARDIS, ignoring every attempt he made to convince her that he wasn't at fault. Shaking her head as she glanced at The Doctor, Rose stood from her seat and moved to stand beside him at the console, working the controls he pointed to and following his instructions.

The TARDIS landed with a jolt, The Doctor gripping Adam by the shoulder and leading him out of the ship the same way he had led him into it. He spoke to Adam, the displeasure written on his face as he walked over to the table and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the telephone and machine. It exploded seconds later, sparks and smoke coming from it as the information Adam had recorded was destroyed. Rose looked at Adam with a frown, still unable to believe that he couldn't see anything wrong with what he had done. He couldn't see the harm in any of it and, in the moment that he begged her to take him with her after The Doctor had told him no, she understood that she was also to blame.

Stepping back inside the TARDIS, she looked at The Doctor, the man already working the controls. Her lips parted as she took in a breath, the words she intended to speak dying before they were ever given sound. She had been the one to invite Adam on board in the first place, and because of it she felt somehow responsible for what he had done. Did The Doctor feel the same, she wondered. Did he blame her the same way she did herself? She wanted to apologize, but the words had been spoken so often in the past few hours by Adam that she wondered if they even held meaning anymore.

"I - I'll make us some tea," Rose said, stumbling over the words as her mind fought with her emotions.

She moved passed him, stepping through the console room and into the hall as she made her way to the kitchen. Taking the tea kettle from the stove and filling it with water, she set it back and turned on the flame beneath it. She wanted black tea, but also wanted her chocolate tea. Too tired to decide between the two, the idea of mixing them together seemed the best option and she moved from the kitchen as she stepped toward the gardens. Lifting her hand to her forehead, she rubbed the space between her brows as the headache caused by the electrified manacles grew worse.

Stepping into the gardens, Rose frowned as the air thickened and swirled around her, the temperature growing colder instead of warmer as it usually did. Taking in a shaking breath as her steps grew slower, she nodded to herself as she believed that the TARDIS was mad at her, never realizing that the ship was doing her best to help her instead. Blinking slowly as she moved to walk up the hill toward the tea plants, Rose frowned and tried to understand why it was growing darker. Intending to ask the TARDIS to turn up the lights, her request died on her lips as she lost consciousness in the grass.

The TARDIS turned the air around Rose in a circle, making it swirl faster as it grew colder, anything if only she could wake the girl. Her efforts were fruitless, Rose remaining unresponsive on the ground and she did the only thing she could to make her comfortable. Gold light shimmered in a circle of sparkles next to Rose's shoulder, her sentient flower appearing by her side. Warming the air over her, the TARDIS left Rose as she moved her attention across the ship, running to The Doctor as she called to him frantically.

"Oi!" The Doctor shouted as he moved the TARDIS into orbit around a binary system, his hand moving to cover his eyes as he shook his head. "I'm paying attention, Old Girl! Blimey, turn the alarms off. What's wrong?"

_"Rose!"_ She cried the girl's name inside his mind. "_Rose! In the gardens, go now! Go!"_

"Rose?" The Doctor spoke her name aloud and stilled as he turned his attention toward the hall.

_"Go!"_

He moved in the next instant, running over the grated floor and through the hall as fast as his feet would carry him. The TARDIS helped as much as she could, The Doctor watching the halls ripple in front of him as she moved the rooms until the door to the gardens was opening in front of him. He stepped inside only to still, his hearts each skipping a beat in turn at the site of Rose lying in the grass. He called her name as he moved closer to her, falling to his knees by her side as he reached out to touch her face. She was warm, her breath deep and even. Closing his eyes as he listened close, he only calmed when the sound of her heartbeat was strong in his ears, his twin hearts beating in time with hers.

Sighing when he knew that she would not be happy if he left it behind, he lifted her sentient flower to lie on her chest, resting her hand on top to keep it in place. Gathering her close as he lifted her from the grass, The Doctor stood slowly and carried Rose from the gardens, her body cradled tightly to his chest. Regardless of anything he had said to her mother, he had promised Rose that he would never let her be harmed and yet she had been hurt all the same. Kissing her brow as he carried her through the hall, he stepped into the medical bay and laid her carefully down on the bed.

"I shouldn't have waited," he berated himself quietly as he turned away and activated the medical scans, focusing on her heart. "Your wrists," he said as he read the secondary scan and opened the drawer to his left.

Taking the dermal regenerator from the drawer and turning around, he stepped up to Rose's side and set the medical tool down by her hip. Lifting her left arm, he pulled at her clothing carefully as he pushed her long sleeve up her arm. The skin around her wrist was reddened where the manacle had restrained her, smaller sections burned darker and even blistered where the electricity had been concentrated. He hadn't heard her cry out, nor had she said anything of being in pain when her manacles had sprung open, but from the look of her skin it hadn't simply released. The manacle had malfunctioned and sent a concentrated shock to her because of it.

"Don't be so brave for me," he whispered to her as he kissed her damaged skin and picked up the dermal regenerator.

The scans told him that she would be fine, that all she needed was rest, but she didn't wake at all while he tended to her. Returning the dermal regenerator to the drawer, he lifted Rose from the bed and carried her into the hall, for once not fighting what his hearts demanded of him. Cradling her closer as he stepped into his room, he carried her over to the bed. Lying her down before moving to his dresser, he never took notice that he'd left her flower in the medical bay. Returning to her side with the same jumper the TARDIS always seemed keen on giving Rose, he sat down next to her on the bed and lifted her from the pillows.

It didn't take him long to change her into the jumper, her clothing set neatly aside on the chair by the bookcase. He wasn't certain if she would be upset that he had removed her clothes, but at the same moment found that he didn't care. She was important, her comfort was important, and that was all that mattered. The sound of her whimper drew his attention, her voice speaking his name in a broken whisper. He was by her side with his next breath, reaching out to catch her hand when she lifted it from the bed.

"Did I fall asleep?" Rose asked as she looked up at him, frowning at the concern furrowing his brow. "Doctor?"

"What do you remember?" he asked her, helping her to sit up when she began to move.

"Remember?" Rose shook her head as she looked down at her hand he held. "We dropped Adam off," she told him, pouting as his frown deepened. "What's wrong?"

"Dropping Adam off," he said as he studied her. "That's the last thing you remember?"

"That and tea," she said and rubbed her brow in confusion. "Why do I remember tea?"

"Never you mind about that," he told her, smiling as he forced away the worry and hid it behind a bit of humor. "How do you feel?"

Rose took in a deep breath, humming softly as she released it. "A bit tired, kind of wobbly like I've been spinning in circles. What's with you then?" she asked as she lifted her hand to his face. "Don't think I didn't see. You were all concerned like something happened."

"Nothing to worry about," he told her, covering her hand on his cheek with his and holding it in place for a moment before bringing it down. "I was thinking we're in for a bit of a rest. Know a great little planet full of beaches and meadows. You'll love it there."

"So something did happen," she told said and gave him an amused stare. "Something you don't want to tell me if I can't remember it on my own. Didn't set the TARDIS on fire, did I?" she asked, half teasing.

"No," he grinned, chuckling as he looked at her "No, you didn't do that."

"Where's Blue?" Rose asked as she looked to the table by the bed, frowning at the objects she didn't recognize.

"Blue?" The Doctor asked her, frowning when he realized he had no reference for the name.

"Blue," she repeated and smiled at his frown. "My flower," she reminded him. "Can't just call him flower all the time."

"You named it?" he asked, smiling when Rose laughed and lightly slapped his arm with the back of her hand.

"Him," she emphasized the pronoun, "and yes." Her humor faded as she studied him, flinching at the memory of the electrified manacles. "Are you alright? The manacles..."

"I'm fine, bit tougher than you lot," he teased her, his lips turning up in a lopsided smile when she yawned. "You rest."

"Doctor, where am I?" Rose asked curiously when he stood from the bed. "It looks like my room, but some things are different. The white blanket's gone missing, The things on the table aren't mine..."

"My room," he interrupted her comparison, unable to meet her gaze. "You're in my room."

Rose nodded quietly, looking down to see that she was dressed in the same dark jumper that would occasionally appear on her bed or in her closet. Was she dressed in his clothing, she wondered. The sight of it made her curious, but not enough to say anything. She knew he would take her words in the wrong manner if she voiced the question. Releasing a deep breath as she scooted back down to lie on the pillows, she smiled softly at the way his scent surrounded her. Did he have any idea how safe and happy it made her?

"Stay with me?" she asked when he moved to the door. "Just until I fall asleep again?"

The Doctor turned to look at her, one side of his mouth pulling up in a half grin as he returned to her bedside slowly. Sitting down next to her, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as she snuggled into his side. This was as close as they could ever be, he told himself as he tried to remember that she wasn't his to keep. Her hand wrapped around his bicep, the manner of her hold gentle, as though she were trying to keep him with her. Resting his cheek on her hair as he pulled the blankets up around her shoulders, he breathed in deeply of her scent.

"Rose Tyler," he spoke her name in Gallifreyan, the girl never knowing what he was saying, but finding the words beautiful all the same. "May you never know the power you have over me."

"Will you speak more?" Rose asked when he fell silent, turning her head up to meet his curious gaze. "I love the sound of it, the only language the TARDIS won't translate."

He smiled at her teasing, the way she said his language without ever calling it by name. His thoughts turned to a story he'd once heard as a child, a simple fairytale of his people from a time when love was still something they sought as much as his people had sought knowledge. He meant to move, to get up and get her flower, but the TARDIS bid him to stay where he was as she moved the flower for him. Rose smiled at the spiral of gold light, the sparkles that she had grown used to seeing and thanked the TARDIS when her flower appeared on top of the blankets covering her lap. Moving the flower up to lie in the place where her body rested against The Doctor's, she bid him to speak once more and smiled when he did.

The flower began to trill softly, the sound softer than The Doctor's words. It ruffled its petals as it shifted and preened, lying down between The Doctor and Rose. She petted the flower's petals, rubbing her thumb slowly back and forth over the curve of the large bulb as she grew tired, The Doctor's hand resting on the plant's spherical pot. This wasn't domestic, at least not in any way that The Doctor would ever admit to. This, he thought as he told Rose the story from his childhood, every word of it spoken in a language she would never understand, this was just how it was between him and Rose.

He knew the moment that she fell asleep in his arms, but even with all the intentions he had of returning to the console room, he found himself curling closer to her as he chose to hold her instead. He would keep her safe from her demons tonight. No nightmare would dare trouble her while he guarded her. Looking down when the flower moved and brushed against him, The Doctor lifted his hand and brushed a finger over a few dark blue petals. The TARDIS warmed the air as she watched them, her Time Lord, the girl who mended his hearts, and her flower. There were some things that even the Gods of Gallifrey could never have foreseen, she thought. Things that even they wouldn't have been foolish enough to try interfere with. Her attention turned to The Doctor when he sighed, his momentary frustration making her curious.

"I can never remember it all," he said aloud as he frowned and began to recite the last bit of the poetic legend once again, the words Gallifreyan. "Should a time come that a TARDIS finds what has been hidden..." He sighed heavily as he once again returned to speaking English. "Why can't I remember the rest?"

The TARDIS smiled as she knew the legend he was trying to remember. She spoke the words to herself, never reciting them through their bond for him to hear.

_Should a time come that a TARDIS finds what has been hidden, the legend will rise once more. When a Time Lord finds himself complete, his being made whole by another, the TARDIS shall become a guardian of souls. There will be nothing strong enough nor any power great enough to stand in the way of a TARDIS that protects a Time Lord and his true mate._

The Doctor didn't remember the words, she knew, because long ago back before he had regenerated the first time, the legend had been hidden away from all who knew it. One by one, the children of Gallifrey had had the words of the legend taken from them, the memories buried inside their minds until they were all but forgotten. Though his people had long since been lost, The Doctor was the only one who had ever chased after the memories just to remember the legend. He was one who, for all he had seen and all he had done, still believed in love.


	8. Chapter 7 - A Cry in the Dark

Finding His Reason

Chapter Seven - A Cry in the Dark

He had stayed next to her for hours, lying with her, holding her as she slept. The flower was still trilling as it rested between them, the sound barely loud enough for him to hear. Kissing Rose's cheek as he slowly moved from the bed, he watched as she turned on her side toward him and held the flower wrapped in both arms. She was beautiful and completely dangerous, he thought as he watched her sleep. Reaching out to her, he brushed his hand over her cheek before lifting the blankets to tuck them around her shoulders.

Walking toward the door, he turned back with his hand on the knob. His mind stilled at the image Rose made lying in his bed, her body hidden beneath the blankets with her flower tucked under her chin. He closed his eyes against the image his mind created, almost angry at how his hearts seemed to be conspiring against him. He remembered the night his son had been born, the image of his wife holding their child as she had slept back on Gallifrey. It had been a lifetime ago, and he was a different man now, but the image came back to him, only now it was Rose holding an infant instead of her sentient flower.

He had lost everyone. All of his people were gone, the planet was nothing but rocks and dust and he had been left behind. He shook his head as he looked down at his boots before lifting his eyes once more to the bed, a bittersweet smile curling his lips as he stared at Rose. The memories hurt, they burned through him as painful as acid some days, but Rose... Somehow Rose made it all worth it. She gave him a purpose again, and hope. The one thing that kept him from completely losing himself, from going too far, was the one thing he could never have.

"Doctor?"

Rose frowned when he didn't respond to her, her concern growing when she found that he hadn't even noticed that she had spoken. She had felt him move from the bed, the loss of his arms waking her slowly from her sleep. The darkness of the room had been lit in low tones by the ambient light cast by the universes painted on his walls. She had turned over, searching for him before she had even opened her eyes. Any words she had intended to speak had died on her lips at the sight of the expression on his face, his stillness pulling her from the bed. She had stepped toward him soundlessly, her bare feet gliding across the floor as she had moved toward him. His eyes never moved, her gaze following his back to the pillow she had slept on, and she knew that he was lost in his own thoughts.

"No, shh. Just stay there," Rose said softly as she set her flower down on the night table, the plant protesting being left behind. "I'll take care of him."

Turning away from the bed, she stepped up to The Doctor and lifted her hand to his cheek. He gasped at her touch, pulling back as though he hadn't known where he was, and she hushed him quietly. Her hand cupped his cheek as he met her gaze, the memories he was trying to hide burned bright behind his eyes. His gaze burned with the fire and pain, her eyes closing as she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his back. He held her tight as he bent over her, his hold desperate as though he wished to protect her from something that only he could see.

She knew how much it hurt. There were memories of her own that were too dark for words, memories that she would give anything to forget. She lifted her hand to his hair as they held each other, petting the short dark locks at the nape of his neck. He moved without sound, burying his face in her shoulder as though he were trying to hide, and she let him. Her hand rubbed his back as he stayed wrapped in her arms, taking the comfort she offered him so freely.

"There's a planet," he began, his voice soft and muffled as his face remained tucked in her shoulder. "It's got forests as far as the eye can see," he said as he released her from his arms and touched her cheek as he met her eyes. "The forest goes all the way to the water. It's the color of the sunset, the water is," he told her with a smile.

"It sounds wonderful," Rose told him, her soft smile growing wide at the sight of the adventure in his eyes. "We could go there?"

"I thought so," he teased her with a crooked grin. "Thought we could stay for a while. A few days at least. TARDIS could use a rest."

Smiling up at him as she laughed softly, Rose knew what he was truly saying. They both needed the rest, especially after the events on Satellite Five. The one thing they needed the most was each other. They needed to be still, to hold each other and be away from danger for a little while. Frowning as a soft thump caught her attention, Rose turned back to the bed and laughed at the sight that greeted her. Her flower had moved from the night table to rest on the pillow, the spherical pot and more than half its stalk hidden beneath the blanket. She turned back to The Doctor at the sound of his short laugh, amusement twisted her lips when she found him to be staring at Blue as well.

"Do you think we could take him with us?" Rose asked, half teasing him as she looked back at the flower.

"To the planet, you mean?" he asked and grinned. "The air will be safe enough, I'm sure, just keep him in sight. Sentient plants have a tendency to dig their roots into any new ground they meet. It could be tough to get him back out."

"I'll keep an eye on him," Rose laughed softly.

The Doctor nodded at her words, closing his eyes before tipping his head down. His lips parted as he pulled in a breath to speak, his eyes opening at the same moment as he felt his mouth become dry. Her bare feet had been the first thing to greet him, his blue eyes darkening as he followed her pale skin up to where the tops of her thighs disappeared beneath the hem of his jumper. He cursed himself silently for forgetting her state of undress, his palms tingling with the desire to feel the silken skin of her bare legs. He had seen her in less, her body covered only by the scraps of cloth the TARDIS had gifted to her as a bikini, but the sight of her in only his jumper intoxicated him. Closing his eyes as he kept his head bowed, he took in a trembling breath and clenched his jaw, careful to keep his face hidden from her as he fought back his desire. He lifted his head slowly at the feel of her hand on his arm, meeting her teasing gaze and smiling at the sight of the joy in her eyes.

"Take us to that planet, Doctor," she told him with a smile. "I'll get dressed and make us tea."

"Rose, I..."

"Don't," she interrupted him and tipped his head down to kiss his brow. "I've never doubted you, and I never will."

He smiled as he released a heavy breath that both amused and relieved. She understood him as no one else ever had. Not even the wife he had back on Gallifrey had understood him as easily as Rose did. Tipping his head as he gave her a wide smile, The Doctor cupped her cheek in his hand as he kissed her brow. He told her that he would be in the console room before he turned and left the room, his hearts and mind focused on only one thing that was as dangerous as it was beautiful. Universe help him if Rose Tyler ever found out the affect she had on him.

**:::::**

She could feel the footfalls on the floor as Rose moved through the hall. Moving the water into the tea kettle, the TARDIS turned on the flame beneath it as she waited for the girl to enter the kitchen. She smiled at the way Rose greeted her, the smile on her face as she tipped her head up to look at the ceiling. Reaching out to her as they had both grown used to, the TARDIS warmed the air directly around Rose, spiraling it up from her waist to ruffle her hair before letting it dissipate.

Stepping up to the stove as the kettle began to whistle, Rose smiled when the flame beneath it turned off by itself. These were the moments that she was growing used to, the moments that she kept selfishly for her own. Taking the mugs down from the cupboard, she smiled at the way the tiny bowl with the minced plant pieces moved in front of her. Breathing in deeply as she prepared The Doctor's tea, she turned to her own and mixed half a teaspoon of dry black leaves with the pulp made for her chocolate tea. Looking up at the sound of footsteps outside the kitchen doorway, The Doctor's heavy sigh only served to amuse Rose as she met his gaze with an arch of her brow.

"It's my tea," Rose teased The Doctor, and carried their mugs to the table.

"What is that smell?" he asked her as he sat down, his expression changing when he realized how his words had sounded. "It smells good."

"Mmhmm," she returned with a soft laugh following it. "I wanted something different today. There were so many apples ready and those others, the...berries?" she questioned him as she moved to the oven and took out the muffins.

"What berries?" The Doctor asked as he stood and moved to gather plates from the cupboard.

"The ones that grow on the tree next to the apple tree," Rose told him as she eased the muffins from the pan and placed them into a bowl. "I was going to eat that," she told him with teasing annoyance when he plucked the piece of muffin from her hand.

"Rose, there are no edible berries in the garden," The Doctor told her only to be met with her disbelief.

"Someone's inventory isn't as good as they thought. You've got a tree in there that grows berries," she told him before lifting a bowl from the counter and handing it to him.

The Doctor stilled as he looked down at the fruit in the bowl and up at Rose. Taking it from her hands, he looked down at the grape-sized orange and blue spiraled fruits. He lifted one into his hand and sniffed at it only to look up when she told him that they tasted like a perfect blend of strawberries and peaches. He took hold of her wrist before she could take a bite of her muffin, and asked her how many of the fruits she had eaten.

She didn't understand his concern, her gaze asking him for an answer to his upset. He pursed his lips before telling her that the berry tree had been a gift from someone he had known a very long time ago. The berry was used for a specific purpose, the fruit meant to be turned into a juice that would allow the mind to open and accept the psychic energy of their people. She was human, Rose reminded him, not understanding how the berries would affect her, or even if they would. He cautioned her not to eat more of her muffin, offering her a banana instead and smiled when she laughed and took the banana from him.

"When nothing happens to me, you'll see that those berries are fine to be eaten," she told him, teasing him as she waved the banana in his direction.

"I'll be a bit more comfortable if nothing happens," he told her with a pointed look and nodded at her. "Now, eat the banana. Potassium is good for you."

"You and your bananas," she teased as she carried her mug of tea and followed him from the kitchen. "So, how long until we're there?" she asked as they stepped into the console room.

"Not too long," he told her with a grin and nodded to the jump seat. "You'll love it, Rose."

She listened as he told her about the planet, the way that it was covered in as much water as Earth, but held nearly twice the amount of forests. The waters rolled in ribbons of orange, red, and gold, the colors combining in a way that made it look like a sunset. Under the water were miles of natural vegetation that grew wild, the wildlife beneath the water feeding on fruits that were similar in taste to the peaches, plums, and pears that Rose was used to. He smiled when she asked about the people that inhabited the world, delighting in the way his excitement shined through brighter than she had ever seen it.

The TARDIS landed with a jolt, almost bouncing, and The Doctor looked at the screen before moving to the controls. The engines sounded again as he moved the ship off of the floating rock they had landed on. He moved to the doors, the feel of his excitement fueling hers and she laughed when he turned back to smile at her. He opened the doors with a flourish, the rush of air sweeping in chilled and carrying the scent of flowers. Rose's lips parted as she breathed in deeply, the air rolling over her tongue.

"I should get Blue," she said after a moment.

"Let's explore a bit before you do that," he told her as he took her hand. "Need a jumper?" he asked and watched as she shook her head. "Alright then."

He led her outside the doors, stopping when he heard Rose's gasp and looked back to find her staring wide-eyed at the trees surrounding them. The water was lapping at the shore near them, the sound of the waves adding to the ambiance and he watched as she took it all in. Her fascination intrigued him, humbling him as he saw the world through her eyes. They had come during the change of the seasons, when fall becomes winter and the cool breeze was tempered by the soft, warm light of the red sun. The trees stood taller than redwoods, but as full of branches as an oak.

The leaves were purple. The tops of the four-pointed leaves were dark enough that they almost looked black until the sunlight hit them and then they shined, royal purple interspersed with threads of glistening silver. The Doctor told her that it was the veins of the plant, the water running under the ground passing through silver veins and sugar streams. He watched as she lifted her hand to catch a falling leaf, her delight growing as she turned it over in her hands and ran her fingertips over it.

"It feels like silk," Rose said with wonder as she looked up at him.

"Smell it," he encouraged her, grinning as she lifted the leaf to her face.

"Plums," Rose laughed as she looked at him. "It smells like plums."

He watched as she stepped away from him, walking up to the nearest tree and placing her palm against the bark. She had expected it to feel rough and hard as the wood of most trees did, but instead it felt warm and flexible. Closing her eyes as she left her hand in place, she gasped at the feel of a pulse beneath her fingertips and turned back to The Doctor. His lips were turned up in the joy of her discovery, his smile ever-present as he went to her side and lifted his hand to rest on the tree next to hers.

"They're almost sentient," he told her with a grin. "They have a collective consciousness that allows them to watch the forest and take care of those within. The people here don't cut down the trees, or use lumber. Everything that is made, from the buildings to the smallest decorations, is from stone, metals, and soil."

"So the forests are left as they are?" Rose asked with a curious smile.

"Yes," he answered with a nod.

Her soft smile grew wide, her tongue curling up over her canine as she looked around at the natural beauty of the forest. There was something that he still hadn't told her yet, of that she was absolutely certain. She was beginning to learn that he held back the big things, not because he thought she wouldn't understand them, but because he wanted to surprise her. The Doctor seemed to delight in surprising her and where she used to hate surprises, he had taught her to love them. She turned back to look at the tree once more, her eyes catching a flash of gold in the forest behind it. Moving away from the tree, she followed after the flashes of gold curiously.

She wasn't certain what she was following at first, but as she pushed her way through a flowering bush she heard the giggles of a child. Smiling as she stepped closer, Rose laughed when the girl's giggles sounded again. Calling out to her as she stepped closer, Rose looked down at the calf-high grasses the child was seated in and moved to sit next to her. The clothes the child wore looked somehow both expensive and natural as though they were spun from natural fibers and strings of silver threads. The garment seemed to be both a dress and a robe, the band around her waist emerald while the rest of the dress was a shade of deep green that changed to purple depending on how the light hit it.

The child's hair fell in curls of gold down her back, the locks as fine and perfectly placed as a doll's. Reaching her hand to the girl's hair curiously, Rose gasped at the softness of it, the feel of it reminding her of feathers. She didn't understand, but smiled when the girl turned her head to meet her gaze. Her eyes were blue, so light and piercing that they reminded her of ice, but the spirit behind them was warm and open. Her skin looked delicate, her complexion that of peaches and cream. There were markings on the girl's face. She had ridges under her eyes that went from her cheekbones around to the outer corners of her eyes.

"You can touch them," the girl offered her, smiling at Rose's blush. "It's perfectly alright. It's how we greet each other. You don't have any," the girl said, nodding to Rose.

"No, no, I'm human," Rose said as she lifted her hand to the child's face and touched the ridges. "My planet's far away." Pausing with her hand on the girl's face, Rose tipped her head as she frowned. "Your mouth doesn't move when you speak."

"No," the girl laughed. "We never talk with our mouths. We talk with our minds, with our hearts."

"How can I hear you?" Rose asked and watched as the girl smiled.

"Because you speak like we do," she told her with a smile.

"But I don't," Rose denied, shaking her head. "I'm not telepathic."

"You speak with your heart," the girl told her as she lifted her hand to Rose's chest. "What is your name?"

"Rose," she answered and watched as the girl's eyes widened. "What is it?"

"There is a legend among our people, but it's nothing more than a story," she said. "Would you like to hear it?"

"Please," Rose said with a smile.

Her voice was soft inside Rose's mind, almost lyrical as she told Rose the legend of her people. There would be a day of darkness when an innocent life would fall in sacrifice to bring peace to the land. A child's life would be lost in a war between the three species that shared the planet. The child would be special, but forbidden. She looked up when Rose asked why the child would be forbidden, her eyes falling to her lap as sadness overtook her expression. The child would be a hybrid, a life born from the love of the sky and the sea. One day a flower would come from far away, a rose that would hear the cries of the child.

Rose frowned at the sight of the crystal drops falling from the girl's eyes, her tears dampening her cheeks. Reaching out to embrace her, she brought the girl into her lap and held her close as the child lifted her hand to her cheek. Rose gasped as she felt the ground disappear beneath her, light blinding her only to disappear as the day turned into night. Her heart was beating frantically as she ran, her bare feet pounding against the plush grasses as stones hidden in the soil cut the bottoms of her feet. She could hear the voices calling out to her, the screams and footfalls of all those that chased after her.

They were calling to her, screaming at her and she didn't understand why. The voices weren't making sense to her anymore. The gentleness and love gone as only anger and hate remained. She turned left, the ground disappearing beneath her feet when she ran off a cliff she hadn't known was there. The wind carried her, the strain of muscles she rarely used burning through her shoulders and down her back as she tried to fly. Her cape wasn't a cape, but wings instead, and Rose felt her mind both at peace with the knowledge and equally terrified.

These wings were structured like a butterfly's wings and meant for gliding, but she was doing her best to push them beyond what they could do. She needed to escape, to find safety, but cried out as she felt her left wing tear under the strain. It was her father's blood that had changed her wings and made them different from her mother's. Her mother could fly, she could soar and dive and race with the wind, but she couldn't. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, her lungs burning when she found that she could no longer breathe and fell when the sky could hold her no longer.

There were those that lived on the land had wanted to bridge the gap between the sea and the sky, to live at peace with all those they shared the world with. So many had been in agreement, but there had been those of each species that believed in the purity of their own kind. Her birth had been kept a secret, her life lived in shadows until the day her mother had taken her to the forest to learn how to fly. She had fallen when the wind had shifted and met a man of the forest, her fear over taking her until her mother assured her that the man was a friend. But he was the man who had betrayed them both. There had been only moments between her meeting the man and her mother screaming at her to run.

Rose cried out in fear, her scream full of terror as she felt the pain ricochet through her. Muscle tore from bone, wings that had never been built for racing were damaged from her attempts to run and she knew that they would never work again. Tears filled her eyes, blinding her as she fell from the sky. Her hands reached out, hands smaller than she remembered as she clawed at the trees she crashed through. Her skin ripped open time and again, bones breaking as she slammed into one branch after another. In seconds she was on the ground, her body in too much pain to move as she struggled and fought for each aching breath.

The warmth of summer left her as she felt her body grow cold, the pain becoming distant as those who had chased her found her where she lay. She could hear her mother scream for her as she grew closer, but the sound grew softer instead of louder. Her eyes fell closed only to slowly open again, the knowledge that she was dying was both frightening and welcoming. The pain left her as her mother bent over her, covering her with wings as strong and warm as an eagle's. The anger of the crowd turned to fear and disbelief, the hate turning into sorrow. As the world faded from her view, the last words that she heard were a declaration that with her death the fighting would end.

Rose blinked quickly, tears falling from her eyes as the last images of the vision left her mind. Her arms tightened around the child that she held as her tears refused to be stopped, her heart breaking from all that she had seen. Looking up at the sound of footsteps in the grass, Rose met The Doctor's eyes, his concern and disbelief unnerving her. He moved toward her slowly, cautiously as though he was afraid of her somehow and she didn't understand.

"Rose," The Doctor knelt in the grass as he watched Rose. "Rose, where did you find that?" he asked her.

"Find what?" she asked him as her tears continued to fall.

He studied her silently as he looked at the body she held, his eyes closing when he realized they were seeing two different things. What he saw, the reality of what was, wasn't what she saw. He could see the bits of cloth that remained behind, the dried skin pulled taught over bone. The body in her arms was that of a child, female if the blonde hair was anything to go by, but she was long since dead. He sighed as he reached out to Rose, cupping her cheek in his hand as his worry grew, his hearts aching for the impact he knew the truth would have on her.

"Rose, tell me what you see," he requested of her as he watched her cradle the desiccated corpse in her arms.

She looked down at the girl in her arms, smiling sadly when she found the child to be sleeping against her shoulder. Reaching down for the cloak, Rose pulled it up over the girl to cover her as she slept. She told The Doctor about the child, how she talked to her and what she had been shown. Her words grew softer as she described how the girl looked and the color of her cheeks. Her arms tightened around the girl when The Doctor reached out to take her from her, her eyes meeting his in confusion.

"Rose..." He looked down for a brief moment, sadness in his gaze when he met her eyes. "She's not alive, Rose. She hasn't been alive for a long time."

Rose shook her head as she tried to move away from him, doing what she could to protect the girl in her arms when he reached for her again. He kept his voice calm as he reached out to her again and tried to reason with her, but she refused to let him take the body from her arms. She stood from the grass, cradling the body to her like a mother protecting her child, and he knew that she wouldn't see the truth until she was made to see it. He guided her back through the forest, the silence between them heavy with all that was left unspoken.

"It's alright," The Doctor encouraged her when they came to a clearing, inhabitants from the planet waiting for them.

"No, it's not," Rose denied as she refused to move closer them. "She's not safe with them. Not here."

"Rose," he reached out to her, uncertain how the three people waiting for them would react.

"Her name is Rose?" a woman asked as she stepped closer, her hair the same pale gold as the child's.

"Yes," Rose answered, looking between the woman and The Doctor. "Does it matter?"

"We've been waiting a long time for you," the woman told her before looking at her companions. "I am Ryk'Tara, Empress of the Sky. Jonyel," she motioned to the man standing at her left, his skin appearing almost reflective of the light as he bowed to Rose, "Emperor of the Sea. And this," she motioned to the man at her right, "is Mikayal, Emperor of the Land. Please, come with us. We have much to discuss."

"Doctor," Rose shook her head in confusion as she looked at him.

He knew that she was scared, more for the body she held in her arms than for herself. Offering her an encouraging smile as he moved closer to her, he placed his hand in the small of her back as he guided her forward. They were led to the edge of the forest, the water lapping against the grass. There were five animals waiting for them as one guard stood sentry beside the beasts. The animals reminded her of horses, though they had both wings and gills. They were the one animal, the Empress told them, that could live anywhere on the planet.

"Come on, Rose," The Doctor spoke to her as he stepped up to one of the animals. "Fantastic," he cheered as he mounted the beast and settled into the saddle before reaching down for her.

He knew that she wouldn't relinquish the child's body, knew that he still thought the girl to be alive and sleeping in her arms. There was no warning, nothing to prepare her for the moment when she was too distracted to notice The Doctor leaning down from the saddle toward her. Rose cried out in surprise when she was gripped around her waist and lifted off the ground and deposited into the saddle. His arms slipped around her waist as he gathered the animal's reins and held Rose close at the same time, her back to his chest.

Rose shivered in his arms when he spoke in her ear, his breath warm against her ear. She knew that he was trying to comfort her, but she felt unbalanced instead, somehow intoxicated by him. Closing her eyes as she held the child in her arms closer, Rose fought to steady herself before she embarrassed them both. She could hear his voice whispering in her mind, not The Doctor's, but Jimmy's instead. The memory of his words acted like a wash of ice water over her, and in an instant, she felt the growing arousal she had for The Doctor turn into aching sorrow and fear of memories she wished to forget.

"Close your eyes, Rose," The Doctor encouraged her as he touched her shoulder. "It'll be at least two hours before we reach the main city."

"You think I'm tired," she teased him, tipping her head back to meet his gaze.

"I know you are," he told her as he nodded to the child in her arms. "Talking with her the way you talked would be rather draining for you."

"Think you're so smart," she responded and listened as he snorted in amusement.

"I am so smart," he assured her, grinning when she leaned against him.

He had thought she would rest as he bid her to, but she remained awake instead, asking him about the people they were with and the planet they were on. Each question she asked was answered by The Doctor, or one of the nobles they were with, her curiosity allowed free reign. It was Jonyel who spoke up in the break between conversation, giving voice to the legend the child had told Rose as they neared the town. The Doctor's arms around her waist tightened when the animal they were on angled up, beating its wings against the wind as it flew faster and higher to climb above the buildings. She leaned back against The Doctor, trusting him as she always had, and looked down at the child in her arms.

"She's still sleeping," Rose told him with wonder. "I thought she would have woken by now."

The Doctor glanced down at her as a heavy breath escaped his parted lips. He knew that the truth would hurt her. It would devastate her. She believed that the girl in her arms was alive. She saw her as being alive, when the truth was that the girl had been dead for at least a century. All she held were bones held together by dried skin and covered in tattered cloth. His eyes turned down to her when she moved, turning against him just enough to press her cheek against his chest. He knew that she was tiring, knew that she would fall into an exhausted sleep soon. The spirit of the child was feeding off of Rose's own energy in order to keep the connection open and he doubted that she would last much longer.

"Go to sleep, Rose," The Doctor bid her softly, lifting his arm from around her waist to cover hers as she supported the child she held. "I've got you both."

"You always do," she replied, her voice soft as her eyes fluttered closed.

He heard her soft sigh as she fell asleep in his arms. Turning his head down to look at her face, he wished that he could see what she could, see the child through her eyes. The sound of another horse flying next to them drew his attention, but he kept his eyes on Rose as he waited for the rider to speak. He could feel the eyes watching him - watching them - and he knew in that moment that it was the Empress who had come alongside them. There was a feel to the woman he recognized, a familiarity in the air that told him she was far older than she looked.

"She's beautiful," Ryk'Tara said as she looked at Rose. "The connection is powerful, unbreakable between the two of you as it should be between a husband and wife, but the relationship is far more complicated."

"She's not my wife," The Doctor denied as he looked up from Rose.

"Perhaps not now, but she will be. That much is clear to those of our kind," she told him with certainty. "There are stories carved in stone. Stories that our people learned from other planets. Stories that are beyond time."

"What stories?" The Doctor asked, his voice at one both curious and suspicious.

"The stories are older than time, older than language," she said as the horses began to descend, the animals wings folding in as they dove at a shallow angle toward the ground. "I'm certain we'll have time to talk about it later, but for now, your...companion needs to rest. I'll have you shown to your room."

"Our room?" The Doctor asked as he carefully dismounted his horse before reaching up and taking Rose into the cradle of his arms. "You knew that we were coming?"

"No," Ryk'Tara laughed softly, a quiet breath of amusement rolling from her lips. "No, we never knew when you would come, only that you someday would. A room has been kept for you both since the night the girl died. The man of time and the rose that flew on the wind," she whispered the last words with a bittersweet smile as she stepped away and called to one of the servants.

_If you're a legend, how come I'd never heard of you before?_ The Doctor thought as he looked down at Rose. He followed behind the young servant girl as she led them down one hall and through to another. She never spoke to them, though she treated them with the highest respect. Her actions and quick glances were those of a devout believer looking upon their god. She led them down to a room at the end of the hall, the doors made of intricately carved stone and gilded with ivory and gold. They stretched from the floor to the high ceiling, the scene carved into the stone giving him pause.

"How?" The Doctor asked as he stared at the carving of himself holding Rose and a sleeping child.

"A elder seer," the servant told him, her voice halting and soft as though she was afraid to speak too loud. "She was the one who instructed the royal architect in the design of the door. She died a few years ago, but always spoke of a woman made of gold. That's all anyone knows."

"A woman made of gold," he repeated, his brows rising and falling as he both accepted and dismissed the words in turn.

"I'm to take the child," the servant said when The Doctor turned to walk into the room.

"I can't let you do that," The Doctor denied her as he stepped into the room. "Not until Rose is ready."

"She's waking, sir," the girl said as she nodded to the left. "Turn toward the mirror."

He regarded her quietly for a moment before looking down at Rose. Her heartbeat and breathing hadn't changed. There was nothing to tell him that she was waking, but the girl seemed certain that she was. Turning toward the mirror, he watched their reflection as Rose began to stir in his arms. He never noticed the expression on his face, the way his eyes softened as he looked at Rose, or the way he held her closer when she breathed in deeply and turned her face into his chest. The only thing he could see was Rose, the servant girl watching them from behind as she looked at the mirror.

Rose moaned softly as she sighed his name. Lifting her hand to her face as her eyes opened slowly, she breathed in deeply only to still when she looked into the mirror. Her eyes widened as her breath came faster, shaking her head as she whimpered and looked down at the girl she had known to be in her arms. It was wrong, what she was seeing was wrong and frightening. She had been holding a living little girl, and now all she held was a desiccated corpse.

"Doctor," Rose called to him, her voice trembling as she spoke his name.

"It's alright, Rose," The Doctor calmed her as he turned away from the mirror. "Let her take it," he said as the servant stepped closer and reached for the body.

"I don't understand," Rose said as the girl took the body and left the room. "She was alive."

"No, Rose, she wasn't," he said as he set her on her feet. "She hasn't been alive for a very long time."

"My head," she whimpered, The Doctor catching her when she stumbled.

"You need rest," he told her as he held her.

He spoke to her softly, calming her as he led her to the large bed. He knew that she was afraid, knew that she still didn't understand what had happened between the moment she had fallen asleep in his arms to when she had woken. To her the child had been alive, warm and breathing. She hadn't seen the bones - the truth - until she had seen their reflection. Cupping her cheek in his hand, The Doctor kissed her brow and helped her into the bed, tucking the blankets around her.

"Sleep now, Rose. I'm going to go talk with the nobles and find out exactly what's going on, and what they're expecting," he told her as he touched her cheek. "I'll see if I can find something for your headache."

"TARDIS," her voice was weak as she spoke the ship's name.

"Hidden where we landed, until I know more," he said and watched her nod as she grew closer to sleep.

"Go," Rose told him with a tired grin. "I know you're curious. I'd come, but..."

"But you can barely keep your eyes open," he teased her.

He waited by her side until she fell asleep. Removing his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket, he scanned Rose over twice, reading the results each time before he felt comfortable with the idea of leaving her. Her health wasn't in any danger that he could tell, she was simply drained of her energy. Standing from the bed, he moved across the room to close out the drapes, allowing her to rest comfortably in the darkened room. There was something missing, he thought as he looked back at her, something she should have that she didn't.

"Blue," The Doctor said with a fleeting smile as he shook his head.

He turned away from her, walking toward the door as he thought of the sentient flower he had grown so used to seeing. She had changed him, he realized. She had taken away some of his anger, more than a bit of his pain, and replaced both with wonder. Rose had shown him the world through her eyes, and he had never noticed it until that moment. Stepping to the door, he opened the heavy stone and turned back to look at her once more before leaving the room.

There was a guard waiting for him, a man who looked to be of the land species, though he had wings that told of his mixed heritage. He introduced himself to The Doctor with a low formal bow and told him that he was honored to be their escort during their stay. The legend of the rose who could hear the child was known across the planet, her coming foretold in the manner of a god. He listened as the man told him of the legend again, answering the questions he asked and those he hadn't.

"You all speak, but each of you is also telepathic. I can feel it," The Doctor said and watched the guard beside him nod, his expression one of sadness.

"The war began, in part, because we couldn't understand each other. Each of our races is telepathic, but we couldn't communicate telepathically with each other," he told The Doctor as they turned down a corridor. "Those that wanted peace had found a way, created a universal language. The language is the same as you hear it now - a spoken language. There were those that considered it wrong, blasphemous even, to speak aloud. The child, the hybrid, was unique. She was of the sea and the sky, but no one could understand her. Not even her own parents, it was said."

"Her parents must have communicated somehow," The Doctor said with a frown.

"No one knows how. That's why your Rose is so important to us. She is held in higher regard than even our royal family." The guard paused, meeting The Doctor's gaze before taking in a breath to speak. "Our people have united through a treaty, but it is said that The Rose will bring peace, true peace to our people."

**:::::**

Rose shifted beneath the blankets, drawing in a deep breath as her eyes fluttered open slowly. She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, and while she was still tired, she had been woken by the knowledge that she was no longer alone. It wasn't The Doctor that was with her, she had known that before she'd even opened her eyes, but she had never expected what she found. Lifting her hand to her face and rubbing her eyes, she pushed herself up to lean on her elbow and looked at the children sitting around her on the bed.

They were each young, anywhere from three years to seven years, by her estimation. One child in particular, a little girl who looked to be born of the earth and sea people. Her eyes were a brilliant ice blue, her hair a dark brown highlighted with strands of gold. The girl was watching her curiously, her eyes following her every movement and Rose couldn't help but find amusement in how she was being studied. Lifting her hand from on top of the blankets, Rose reached out to the little girl with a smile and brought her closer when the child placed her hand in hers.

She noticed that the door was open, another child sneaking into the room before it closed again and Rose shook her head in amusement. Never could she have imagined that she would someday be the center of curiosity as she was now. She waited for one of the children to speak, even closed her eyes and listened to see if they were trying to talk to her telepathically, but there was nothing.

"My name is Rose," she offered the children and watched as each of them widened their eyes. "Oh, don't," she reached out to one of the children by her feet. "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. Haven't had my bed full of kids before," she told them with a smile.

She waited as she asked for the children's names, each of them offering their own in hushed whispers. There were twelve children in total, an equal mix of boys and girls. Moving slowly, Rose sat up in the bed and tucked the pillows behind her against the headboard. She invited the children closer, some choosing to cuddle against her while others laid against her legs or sat at her feet. One of the older girls asked her if she was truly the rose of legend, and she laughed as she shrugged.

"I suppose I am," Rose said, looking up when the door to her room opened again, smiling in wonder and disbelief at The Doctor as he entered the room.

"Making a collection then?" he asked and Rose laughed as she invited him closer.

"Woke up with them here," Rose told him with a wide smile. "Seems I'm a bit of a celebrity, or something."

She waited for The Doctor to join her on the bed, laughing when he rolled his eyes as the children who couldn't fit around her cuddled against him. It was just a look between them, a simple glance that they teased each other with. His distaste for domestics and her ability to make new friends with alien races so easily. It was the first time since traveling with Rose that she was the one that was revered and not him. There was no jealousy, only curiosity mixed with concern. These people revered her, worshipped her even, and it worried him for the simple reason that he didn't know their intentions. He had met so many different races and species over his nine hundred years. Some of them were peaceful, others warriors, but there had been some of those aliens he'd met who worshipped there gods by eating them. He hoped that this wasn't one of them.

It was almost an hour later that the Empress and the two Emperors came upon them, the guards having reported that the children residing inside the castle had seemed to have gathered in the Legendary Room. Rose had turned her attention to the door at the soft knock, smiling when she nodded to the royals, and turned her eyes on The Doctor. She was still tired, still suffering the headache from earlier, but refused to let it be known that she was in any kind of discomfort. Two more people requested to enter the room, Rose finding amusement in the expression on The Doctor's face. She knew that he wasn't fond of the situation they were in now, the gathering of the children around them both something that he would see as very domestic.

The two newcomers introduced themselves with low bows, their conduct formal as they told her they were the high priestesses of the temple. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she turned her eyes to the elder priestess and asked which temple they were referring to. Rose turned to The Doctor at the answer, her expression one of disbelief and uncertainty when she was told that the temple was hers. All it took was a look, his blue eyes focusing on hers, and she knew that they would both be alright. No matter the danger, he always made certain that everything was alright. She trusted him to do that now and he had never let her down.

The questions came slowly, the royals and spiritual leaders asking as to the child she had found in the forest. She answered what she could, revealing the life and the death of the child as tears formed in her eyes and spilled over onto her cheeks. There were moments that Rose would pause, shaking her head as she listened to their questions and found that they still hadn't learned the lesson the child's death had taught. The girl's life had brought to light the answer they had been seeking for the one question they wouldn't ask. Looking up as she took The Doctor's hand in hers, Rose turned her eyes on the adults in the room with them and forced down the anger that had come without her permission.

"You still don't understand. None of you do," Rose said as she looked down at the children tucked against her and The Doctor. "Stop speaking, stop hearing, and listen!" she told them sharply. "You all spend so much time trying to hear each other that you've stopped listening. She could hear everyone, but none of you could hear her. Listen with your hearts. Just listen and have faith in each other."

"How did she hear everyone?" The Doctor asked Rose as he tightened his hand around hers in an offer of comfort.

"She closed her eyes," Rose said as she looked at him before turning her attention back to the royals and spiritualists. "When the man who betrayed her mother - betrayed her - came upon them, she closed her eyes. She closed her eyes so that she could hear him, but anger and hate made no sense to her! She couldn't understand him because of it!"

"Rose," The Doctor spoke to her softly as he sought to calm her.

"Haven't any of you wondered why your children never need to speak out loud? Why they can hear each other and talk to each other without ever needing to actually speak?" Rose asked as she looked at them. "Children don't know hate. It's not something anyone is born with. It is something that they are taught, something that they learn. Stop teaching them hate, stop telling them the old stories. Just let them learn for themselves."

"There is no hate here," the high priestess said only to be met with Rose's angry stare.

"You're a fool if you think that," Rose declared. "You're of the land species aren't you?" she asked and waited as the old woman nodded. "Each of these children on the bed with The Doctor and I have a little something that tells me they come from mixed families. You," Rose nodded pointedly at the priestess, "won't look at any of them. You look at me or The Doctor, but you won't look at them. You consider yourself above them, something more than spiritually. What is it then?" Rose asked as she studied her. "Pureblood," she said after a moment. "You consider yourself better than these children because you have no mixed blood. Is that it?"

The old priestess pulled back, her eyes wide and accusing. There was no reason to validate Rose's claims. The child back then and the children now had been nothing more than a mixing of the species, mongrels in her view. Turning her attention to the empress, Rose revealed the truth that no one talked about, the truth no one wanted known. There would never be peace so long as there were those who believed that they were better for not having mixed heritage.

"Don't you see?" Rose asked as she looked at the royals. "The children of your world can communicate and live in peace because they are blind to what they are. You will never have peace until you learn what they are born knowing. Love is blind. If you want peace, then you must learn to see with your heart and not your eyes."

She stayed in the room with the children gathered around her and The Doctor long after the others had left. Leaning her head against The Doctor's shoulder, she sighed as she wondered if her words had had any impact on them at all. A child's life had been lost because those who believed in the purity of their own species couldn't see that they were the ones creating the problem. The children stayed with them until the sun had fallen below the horizon, the world around them cast in darkness. The Doctor gathered her close, encouraging her to rest through the night as he held her and promised to keep her safe.

"I felt it," Rose told him, sniffing back her tears as she began to cry. "Everything she went through. Everything she felt and saw and experienced," she sobbed. "I felt it as though it were happening to me."

Hours passed by, night turning into day as The Doctor kept vigil by Rose's side. He waited for morning before helping Rose up and leading her back to the stables of the castle. The guard who had been assigned to them helped them to saddle and mount their steeds. He had thought that Rose would be pleased to have her own horse, but she was quiet and withdrawn instead. The moment they were inside the TARDIS Rose turned and made her way through the halls to the kitchen, The Doctor following behind her.

He spoke her name when he found her leaning against the sink with her back to him. He knew she was crying, knew that her heart was breaking, and stepped up behind her. There was a moment of silence as he reached out to her, Rose turning to him as she fell into his arms. He held her tightly as she began to cry, her tears breaking his hearts as he petted her hair and did his best to comfort her. The hardest lesson of traveling in time and space had just been learned by Rose Tyler. Sometimes, no matter how hard you tried or what you did to help, you couldn't change a thing. Sometimes, the good side didn't win.


End file.
